tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45919639625472400422024-03-14T04:12:19.185-05:00HanLeiaFanFicWritersA place to talk about Han and Leia and about reading about them and writing about them.Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.comBlogger493125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-60065174841643204002019-03-15T11:22:00.000-05:002019-03-15T11:26:11.403-05:00Challenge Response from Knighted Rogue
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Author’s
Note: Expanded Universe timeline and canon. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Happy Returns” by KnightedRogue</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Decades
of peace had sure made a difference in this place.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
biggest change was the heat.<i> </i>It bloomed inside walls of ice and snow
like a damned miracle, perfectly designed for optimum comfort, ready in all its
ironic bluster. Warmth like a sauna; warmth like a good morning wrapped in
bed-sheets and smooth skin. It was warm enough to make a guy question his eyes,
question the clear evidence of winter weather right in front of him. There was
ice and there was snow and wasn’t there wampas roaming around out there
somewhere? But the air wasn’t frigid and so everything was fine<i>.</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What.
The. Hell.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Astounding,
the way the heat filled him with a false sense of security, like Hoth wasn’t
the ass-end of the galaxy, like it wasn’t strung over with old tension and
bitter remorse and the bodies of Imperials and Rebels alike. No, the heat was
new and kind: inviting, almost. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And to
Han Solo—war hero, New Republic general on reserve, husband to the Chief of
State and father of three—it felt like a prank. <i>Heat? Here? </i>Years
after it would have been needed? When it could have done some good for people? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What he
would have given to feel this heat the night he’d packed the galaxy’s future
Jedi Master into a tauntaun corpse while he dream-talked about his dead mentor
and a guy named Yoda. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han hated
Hoth: hated the cold, hated the memories it held. Other Alliance bases hadn’t
been as bad as this one, with its deceptive, pretty white and the weary
camaraderie of the crews. By the time they’d gotten to Hoth the group that
would someday become New Republic Starfleet Command had been immune to existential
crises. They knew they were going to die, that no one could save them, that the
cause they would die for was small, and grassroots, and underfunded. Deep
nihilism bled through the ranks and it left a cheerfulness that itched at Han
like a bad rash. In his experience, naivete and world-weariness didn’t go
hand-in-hand and the dichotomy of it bothered him. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He’d seen
it firsthand in Luke, and Wedge, and Hobbie. Even Janson. <i>Even Leia. </i>Hoth
had drained the hope from the Alliance’s staunchest defenders. Back then Han
had felt like the only one who could see the symptoms, since he was not yet a
committed part of it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And now
he was back, with Luke and Wedge and Hobbie. And even Janson and especially
Leia.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It felt
like cheating death to come back here. Like they were all taking the bait, like
the happiness and freedom they’d found in the intervening years might disappear
just by setting foot on this damned planet. Superstitious? Sure. But that
didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the fear anyway. If he’d learned anything from
Hoth it was to hold onto the hope for something better when it looked bleakest.
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han swept
mean, calculating eyes around the bustling hanger, lording over the chaos on
the same boarding ramp he’d stomped down many times on this infernal planet. He
wore a formal winter coat he’d bought, oh, <i>ages ago, </i>during their first
family trip to Corellia.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
hanger around him looked the same as it had decades ago: big and ugly. The bare
ribs of the structure jutted out too far and left the whole structure feeling
weirdly organic without any of the benefits of organic material. More ships
filled the hanger than twenty years before: fancier ships, too. Han spotted
Borsk Fey’lya’s favorite plaything in the corner, a 529 Headhunter that looked
like it’d been spit-polished to within an inch of its life. He caught sight of
a Chitron Class Double-Z fighter in the far corner and wondered which diplomat
had gotten their grubby mitts on something as brand spanking new as that
beauty. Crew bustled around the ships as they had before but without the
cold-weather gear. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And it
was <i>warm. </i>So warm that Han itched at the collar of his proper dress
shirt before removing the winter outerwear altogether. Jacketless now, he still
couldn’t escape the heat. <i>Someone shoulda warned us, </i>Han thought as he
heard footsteps at the top of the ramp behind him.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Dad, I
thought you said it was going to be cold.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
turned to watch his daughter as she walked toward him. She was dolled up,
looking just like her mother, all shrewd brown eyes and thick hair tied up into
Jaina’s version of an up-do. Her long-sleeved dress covered her shoes but he
could tell she wore heels; the top of her head reached his nose and no
Organa-Solo woman was that tall, even at full maturity.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And he had
to admit that Jaina looked pretty damn mature tonight.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She wore
black, covered, but somehow those neat lines made her look dark, mysterious.
Sixteen year old Jaina had been wearing cosmetics for a year now but her eyes
were deep tonight, like the farthest reaches of the universe and fathomless.
She was more at home in the inner hull of her X-wing—his child, <i>always</i>—but
she looked like a million credits tonight. Han had a quick moment of
gut-wrenching, rabid fear that his baby girl could get hurt looking like this.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The good
news was that Jaina sure as hell could take care of herself, lightsaber at the
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It’s
fucking <i>sweltering</i>,” his daughter added and the spell of fatherhood
broke.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Watch
that mouth of yours,” he growled but smiled to himself as he turned to reassess
the hangar. “Your mother will kill me if she hears you talk like that.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Talk
like what?” she asked with an innocence Han didn’t buy for a nanosecond.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Like <i>me,”
</i>he answered.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jaina
smiled but left it alone. “Why is it hot in here? You always said Hoth was <i>cold.</i>”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“They must’ve solved the environmental
problem. They were stuck on it when the Imps showed up.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jaina
stepped next to him on the ramp, crossed her arms over her chest. “No kidding.
How do you think they did it?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe applied a heat shield? Something from avonatics?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You’d
still have the melting problem, though,” she said. “This place is
spick-and-span. Not a drop of moisture in sight.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It’s
spick-and-span because <i>fancy </i>people are here this week. People like you,
looking like a Zyonier hooker. Your mother know you’re wearing that?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jaina
raised her eyebrows. “Watch that mouth of yours,” she repeated his words back
to him with a small grin, then added, “And of course she knows. She helped me
buy it.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With
that, she turned around and climbed up the ramp, leaving Han shaking his head.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Damn it,
Leia, </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he
thought.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The boys
hid their discomfort about as well as Han tried to hide his, though looking at
them now he thought they all probably failed miserably. Without any forewarning
about Echo Base’s new and improved heating, the Organa-Solo clan was clad in
winter formalwear: an ongoing comment made to him over the course of several
relatively polite conversations he’d had while awaiting Leia’s entrance.
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You seem
quite warm, General Solo. Are you unwell?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“That
dress shirt must have three thermal layers beneath it!”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Why are
you dressed like you are <i>outside, </i>Sir?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han had
dismissed the comments, used to the polite swordsmanship expected of him at
events like this one. Toeing the line between being a respected veteran of a
great war and being his unique brand of unpredictable, he spent time with
guests he knew he could charm easiest and left the harder marks to Jacen:
Jacen, who had more political chops in his big toe than his siblings or father
had in their entire bodies. Jaina was somewhere over by the main banquet hall
and Han had no idea what she was doing there other than to maybe smile her way
into a light alcoholic drink despite her father’s practiced eye. Anakin,
fourteen and the most impressed with Echo Base, was grilling two
historians charged with renovating the base on the finer points of artistic
license. Han had left his youngest child to the conversation and found a
relatively secluded post with his back to the long stream of guests entering
from the North Corridor. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He didn’t
find these events restful but their necessity had made him a pro at realizing
when his patience was wearing thin. He knew when to take a break from people.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I see
you didn’t get the <i>we have heat now </i>memo, either,” said a voice from
Han’s right.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He turned
to see the first genuine friend he had found at the dinner so far. Wedge
Antilles’ young, sharp face had filled out with the years, giving him a
perpetually laughing visage. His hazel eyes twinkled in the bright light of the
mess-hall-turned-ballroom. Wedge always reminded Han of the old tales of
meddling spirits in Coronet City he’d heard as a kid, the ghosts out for a ruse
and a gamble, the ones that did harm and good in equal measure through no fault
of their own. Smart and wiley, Wedge was the Corellian brother Han had never
had, and they shared a journey into respect and admiration in public life,
though Han’s association with a certain princess had rocketed him to a fuller
fame than his countryman. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
shorter man was in full SFC cold-weather dress uniform, white and bulky and
confined in all the worst places: collar, cuffs and crotch. Han winced, knowing
the feeling well. As a reserve officer, Han wasn’t required to wear the dress
whites any longer. When asked he’d loudly proclaimed he was in no way going to
wear the torture uniform and that there was no way Leia could make him despite
how much she seemed to enjoy the sight. She’d surprised him and had agreed,
even said she found civilian-wear more appropriate for their return to Hoth. <i>You
didn’t fully commit until Endor, </i>she’d said. <i>It might look like you’re
pulling focus from the veterans who </i>were <i>already commissioned. </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He’d
escaped dress whites hell on a technicality. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wedge
brought with him two tumblers of Whyren’s Reserve, offering one to Han. <i>What
a guy, what a pal, </i>Han thought.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It feels
like a Bimmsaari heat-storm in here,” Han said as he took the proffered tumbler
and a handshake. “You’re a lifesaver, Wedge.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I bet
you say that to all the girls,” Wedge quipped. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Only
one,” Han said with a quick smile. “Where’s Iella?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wedge
rolled his eyes. “Dodonna,” he said by way of explanation.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jan
Dodonna was here, clinging to life with all the stubbornness of a bantha, as
were the other former members of High Command. The only exception was a rueful
Crix Madine, off doing who-knew-what who-knew-where with New Republic
Intelligence. For that Han was grateful. He could handle Ackbar’s pedantic
conversations, Dodonna’s insipid ass-kissing. Looked forward to seeing Carlist
Rieekan, a regular dinner guest at Han and Leia’s penthouse on Coruscant when
he was on-planet. But Madine … <i>ugh.</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Where’s
Chewie?” Wedge asked. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han waved
a hand. “His cub hit majority today. Big deal for Wookiees. Figured no one here
was gonna shoot me so he could take a couple weeks off, you know?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You have
more faith than I do.” Wedge quipped. “Saw the kids wandering around. How the
hell are they so big?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Tell me
about it,” Han said, side-eyeing Jaina as she crept closer to the bartending
droid, looking just like her mother from across the room. His heart squeezed
for a moment before he refocused on Wedge. “Syal at home?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wedge’s
daughter, a rambunctious and pernicious seven-year old, was a blast to have
around, but Han could understand why her parents might want to leave her
somewhere more fun than a ridiculous banquet. Force knew Leia and he had
learned their lesson early on. Youthful energy did not mix well with diplomats.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I didn’t
even want to try,” Wedge confided. “She’d be running around pulling tablecloths
off the tables.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
laughed, remembered the pranks his twins had pulled on various ambassadors at
state dinners: not quite pranks in that everyone knew <i>exactly </i>who had
thrown Farshi shrimp into the beautiful cake while it set in the kitchens.
Seven year olds had <i>zero</i> subtlety.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jaina had
approached the bartender droid who shook its head, and Han wondered if his kids
had actually grown out of the prank phase. He suspected they hadn’t. They’d
just learned to hide it better. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“And the
chief?” Wedge asked after a quick sip of the Whyren’s. “Haven’t seen her around
yet.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Running
late, I guess,” Han said. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You
didn’t come together?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
shrugged. “She’s been on Kloctuu the past two weeks, and Bithil the week before
that, and Bothawui before <i>that.”</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not the
usual diplomatic trip by any stretch and Han was anxious to see her. His
fingers itched to touch her skin, eyes scouted the crowd for big, gorgeous,
brown. A month without his wife made him lonely and desperate and feeling like
he was missing a leg. And then to be here on Hoth where he’d threatened to
leave every spare moment of the day to garner a reaction from the princess … </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He just
wanted to see her, is all. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wedge
nodded, pulling Han’s focus back to the present. “Oh, right. The trade pacts.
I’d heard something about that. Did it all work out?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“No
idea,” Han said. “I can’t watch the Holonews anymore without seeing my face and
that shit drives me up the wall.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wedge
laughed, a deep, honest laugh. “Spoils of the fame, I guess.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han hummed,
took a sip from his tumbler. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I tell
you, being here makes you think some,” Wedge added. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
nodded. “I was thinking earlier that the heat woulda been nice that night Luke
and I got caught in the snowstorm.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You mean
when Luke got lost and you went out after him against direct orders.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
shrugged again. “Same thing.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wedge
shook his head. “Not the same thing.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han took
another drink, uncomfortable. “Yeah, well. I wouldn’t have been in such a rush
to leave if the heat had been on around here.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You
still hanging on to that line?” Wedge asked, turning to look at the assembled
diplomats, the very clear reminder that they <i>weren’t </i>here as younger
men, fighting for their lives and certain of their own defeat. They were here
as victors and happily married men with kids and lives of their own. “You
weren’t in a rush to leave. I hate to break it to you.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
turned with him, eyeing the hush of voices as a protocol droid announced the
Chief of State of the New Republic into the ballroom.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia. </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han’s anxiety, quiet though
it had been, simmered and then settled entirely. He couldn’t see her in the
milling crowd, only heard the hushed reverence, the respect, as his wife
entered the room. And that alone reminded him of how far they’d all come, the stark
difference between Echo Base then and Echo Base now.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Don’t
know what you’re talking about,” he said to Wedge but his eyes were all on
Leia. Always on Leia. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<hr align="center" size="3" width="100%" />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han had
picked up a few more people once Leia began small-talking her way through the
hall. It would take her some time to find him, he was sure, so he tried to be
patient and focused on the heroes around him. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">General
Garm Bel-Iblis had zeroed in on Han the minute he spotted him, the older
Corellian a mutual reluctant participant in these kinds of induction
ceremonies. Iella Wessiri had rejoined her husband and now stood at Han’s right
elbow. Wedge had left momentarily to refill the drinks, acting like the
military chaperone he’d always been around his squadron, most of whom also
found themselves in the chatting circle. Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian. Carist,
<i>thank god; </i>Han needed the Alderaanian general to offset the
former-Rogues’ chronic enthusiasm. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the
best as ever was his brother-in-law.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Luke Skywalker
had gotten the heat memo, wore a light-fabric dress shirt and no jacket. Black
all the way around, like a Jedi on a night-mission with no extra fabric and the
ability to loosen his collar and unclip his cufflinks. Han was envious the
minute he spotted the sandy-haired man. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Who the
hell warned you?” Han asked a little too loud, cheery petulance obvious in his
tone.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Han,”
Luke smiled and made his way over to Han’s increasingly large circle of
reluctant guests. “Read your invitation next time. How’s it going?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
kid—not a kid anymore but Luke could pull that nickname from Han’s dead fingers
if he wanted—hugged Han with genuine warmth. When his children were training
with Luke on Yavin 4, Han saw him a whole lot more than he did when the kids
were on Coruscant. Han and Leia regularly visited the jungle moon to visit
Jacen, Jaina and Anakin; the side benefit was hanging around Luke for a few
hours. The kid didn’t like Coruscant, said it felt <i>empty </i>and <i>cold. </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’d been
about two months since the kids had been with their uncle and probably as long
since the adults had seen each other. Longer than Han liked, for sure. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Go
figure. When Han had helped found this family he’d wanted them close by. Things
felt better when the whole clan was together. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But he
couldn’t say any of that. “It’s <i>hot,</i>” Han muttered instead. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Luke
laughed, slapped his brother on the back. “Crazy, isn’t it? This place looks
completely different.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Weird to
be here again,” Hobbie said. “Hi there, Boss.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Luke
smiled, made the rounds with handshakes all around. “Definitely weird,” he
agreed. “Did you see the hanger? Someone’s got a Double Z.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“That’s
Falnor,” Rieekan chimed in. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“How’d he
scam his way in?” Han asked. “Falnor threw in support after Endor, didn’t he?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Publicity
stunt,” Bel-Iblis said. “Though to be fair I never set foot on Hoth while you
guys were here, either. The committee played fast and loose with who they
invited.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You’re
tellin’ me,” Wes said. “Solo’s here.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
raised his eyebrows, all too aware of Janson’s tendency for good-natured
attacks. “I built this damn base as much as you did, Janson.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Probably
more so,” Rieekan said, patient and low from Han’s left. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Oh,
sure. You’re a big deal, that’s fine. But the rest of us were fighting evil.
Solo here was chasing skirts.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
rolled his eyes. Should have known that would be the punchline. Janson never
meant any real harm. “It ain’t <i>chasing</i> if you get them,” he argued with
a wolfish grin.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<i>Them?”
</i>Janson argued. “You got <i>one.”</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
smiled broadly. “The one that mattered. And look at that, she’s running the
whole damn galaxy.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“She sure
is,” a deep voice said from behind him. “Despite the efforts of you lot.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
turned, his big dopey smile already in place. Leia looked absolutely stunning
tonight, sapphire blue dress high-collared and low-backed, capped sleeves
emphasizing her shapely arms. The dress flowed down her body like a stream,
hugging close to her waist and hips, flaring out into a sensibly wide skirt.
Slender and small, graceful and beautiful, she looked every bit the princess
she had been, like the princess she hadn’t been here on Hoth the first time. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Hi,” he
breathed, and reached his fingers for her hips, mindful of their onlookers.
“Look at you.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
smiled. “Look at <i>you. </i>I see you didn’t read the invitation.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Nope.
Why?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
rolled her eyes playfully at him. “You’re impossible.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
grinned, leaned in and brushed a kiss against her cheek. He didn’t pull back
right away, just kept his lips against her skin for a beat, her breath on his
throat the most reassuring thing in the universe. There was much more he’d like
to do but time was short and eyes followed Leia like magnets. He’d settle for a
brief, conservative welcome and then find a more suitable way to express his
admiration later on. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
stepped into his arms, slid her hand along his elbow, fit herself neatly into
his side and turned toward his collection of friends. “Well, look at this
handsome group,” she murmured. “I should have known you’d all hide together.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Madame
Chief-of-State,” Wes said with a deep bow. “It is an honor to be here with
you.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
effort was so grandiose that the group laughed, the way Janson mimicked the
efforts of the political hangers-on of the evening. Falnor and Fey’lya and the
rest, all who had never set foot on this garbage-heap of a base back when it
had mattered. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Milady,”
Wedge said.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hobbie
chimed in, too. “Your Highness.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The boss
of our boss of our boss,” Janson finished in a Rogue trifecta of teasing.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Wes, I
once pinned you in combat drills in this very room within eight seconds,” Leia
said. “<i>Don’t </i>pretend to stand on ceremony with me.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The group
laughed again, and Han remembered the shock on Janson’s face on that wonderful
day. The image only made him laugh harder. As if he’d needed any more reason to
fall in love with the woman at his side. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Luke
swept in to kiss his twin sister on the cheek. “The highlight of Echo Base,” he
said as he stepped back. “We didn’t let him live it down for weeks.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<i>He </i>didn’t
let me live it down,” Wes pointed to Han. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Because
it was fuckin’ hilarious,” Han said, wrapping his arm around Leia’s back again.
“You’d turn all red with your mouth open and—yeah, like that.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Janson’s
face had developed a distinct blush. The sight made Han laugh harder.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Princess,”
Carlist murmured and leaned in for his own welcoming hug. “It’s good to see you
well.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Carlist,
you must make it to Imperial City more often,” she responded. “It’s been
months.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I
suspect you’ve been busy enough without me there to distract you. How did the
trade summits go?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
settled back into Han’s side with a slight huff. “Like all trade summits go:
compromise, grovel, a few yelling matches and then back to square one.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“There
aren’t enough credits in the galaxy to tempt me into politics again,” Bel-Iblis
murmured into his drink.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Trust
me, I’ve felt that way quite a bit the past few weeks. Coming back here has
been the highlight of my schedule, if you can believe it.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hobbie
barked a laugh. “That’s pretty depressing, Chief.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I know,”
she said, running a hand over Han’s back. <i>Back to you, </i>the gesture said
to him and he squeezed her hip in response. His brain spiraled into deeper,
more private thoughts; he had a sneaking suspicion hers did, too, because Luke
stiffened and made a pained face.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“You can
stop that now,” Luke said. “Both of you. Please.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The group
turned confused looks to him, sensing there was more to their former
commander’s comments than what they heard. Bel-Iblis and Rieekan turned away
for a side conversation, oblivious to the exchange, and for that Han was
grateful.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because
he knew <i>exactly </i>what was coming.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Stop
what?” Wedge asked.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Luke
waved a hand in Han and Leia’s direction. “Those two,” he said, gently teasing
and moving the conversation into areas Han was not interested in pursuing in
public. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Janson
looked at Han and Leia, and then back to Luke. “Is this a Jedi thing?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Yeah,”
Han said, hoping to drop the topic. “And a twin thing. Don’t listen to him.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This had
happened before, something that didn’t broker shame or embarrassment for them
in the confines of the family. But outside of the Jedi lineage he’d married
into, the idea that Luke could sometimes sense when Han and Leia were
particularly … <i>amorous … </i>was disturbing and not something he or Leia
wanted spread to the general public. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Yeah,
okay,” Iella said with a skeptical look toward Luke. Trust the intel agent to
catch more to what was not said than what was said. “Isn’t that strange to you
guys?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They
turned to look at her, the beautiful woman on Wedge’s arm. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
smiled but her eyes swept around the small group. The old Rogues, the galaxy’s
only Jedi Master and the Organa-Solos, whose great success in life had been
planted squarely here, in this godforsaken planet in this hellish base. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Isn’t it
strange to think that the people you knew then became <i>these </i>people?” she
continued, pointing first to Luke, then in a running path between Luke and
Leia, and finishing with another running path between Han and Leia. “<i>You’re </i>a
Jedi Master<i>, </i>for goodness’ sake. You two are twins, separated at birth.
And you two got married and your daughter has been drinking a Tonrian Sunrise
for the past ten minutes.” </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
jerked his head to look at Jaina at the bar, catching her with a slim glass in
her hands.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Got you, </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he mouthed. Jaina scowled
and set the glass down on the nearest attendant droid platter.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Isn’t
that <i>strange </i>to you?” Iella finished. “That so much came from so
little?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<hr align="center" size="3" width="100%" />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By now
the Organa-Solo kids were used to sitting at the head table during state
dinners. Their formation was ingrained, from left to right, always: Jacen,
Anakin, Leia, Han, Jaina. A tried-and-true tactic to create the littlest
disruption possible. Jacen sat on the end because he could fake interest in
their guests the best of his siblings or father: Anakin next to him because
Jacen’s diplomacy evaporated if he sat next to his twin. Han next to Jaina to
keep an eye on her antics. Leia square in the middle, the centerpiece to the
inevitable holo. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The best
part was that Han and Leia always sat together. Han had a nasty habit of
whispering outrageous, ribald things into her ear under the guise of polite
affection. The seating arrangement was a great compromise on everyone’s part.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
hadn’t sat down yet, was finishing a commemorative speech at the podium to the
right of the head table where he and his children sat. The crowd was rapt,
listening to the Chief of State’s beautiful alto as she praised those lost in
the battle that had brought about Echo Base’s eventual capture. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I didn’t
even drink that much of it, Dad,” Jaina whispered from his left.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
snorted a laugh. “Doesn’t matter. You still broke the rules.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Her eyes
were on her mother but she spared a glance to him, adolescent righteousness
quick in the set of her lips. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The rule
is to follow basic New Republic Charter law. Section 5 <i>clearly </i>says that
we should follow the customs of local law while working in a diplomatic role.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He rolled
his eyes. “Did you search for that information <i>ahead of time </i>knowing you
would be caught?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jaina
continued heedless of his response. “And since there is precedent for underaged
drinking on Echo Base—”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“There’s <i>what?”
</i>he interrupted. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jaina’s
eyes flicked back to her mother. “Come on, Dad. Uncle Chewie told us about
Uncle Luke’s majority party.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“<i>Majority,”
</i>he emphasized. “Means you’re <i>legal to drink Tonrian Sunrises.</i>”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yeah, but you didn’t <i>know </i>Mom had
reached majority then and Uncle Chewie says—”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Tell you
what, kid,” Han said, voice low with just a hint of threat beneath it. “Stop
talking now and I’ll put in a good word with your mother when I tell her about
this later tonight.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">made his daughter settle
down real quick, the obvious sign that she wasn’t going to fight him on it
anymore. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Han hid his smile. <i>Teenagers. </i>Pressing
their luck all the time, without regard to logic or reason. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“So it
with deep respect that we open this historical site to the public. Access to
education and the horrors of the Rebellion should serve as a great reminder of
the cost of war. Beings perished here so that we could enjoy the freedom of a
true republic. Let this site be a beacon, a torch, for the next generation to know
the price of stability and honor.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Polite
applause, a slight nod to her audience, and Leia was sitting in the chair on
Han’s left with a quick rush of her dress. <i>Finally.</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Nice
one,” he murmured to her. “Short.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
smiled at him. “I gave the speechwriters the day off after the summit. They
always add about five minutes to the speeches.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Sounded
good to me.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Anything
short sounds good to you,” she replied, lifting a glass of water to her lips. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
turned to look at the audience, the powerful beings tucking into their
expensive meals, choosing correct cutlery on instinct. It was an odd sight. He
very distinctly remembered the week in which a blockade on Premmine had halted
delivery of their emergency rations when Echo Base had been the last refuge for
a struggling Alliance. He remembered the sad energy of the mess hall—this very
same room, without the silver candelabras and the white linen tablecloths—and
the gauntness of the familiar faces he saw in the crowd. Luke, whose eyes were
dulled by hunger. Wes and Wedge quieter than usual. Carlist Rieekan with sunken
eyes and grim lips. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han could
picture them so clearly as they were, as they had been at their worst. He held
that memory close, not because he liked to see his friends in that state but
because it was important to remember that war had not looked like <i>this</i>.
The walls were still that terribly white but now it was warm in here. The
tables were still short, rectangular durasteel, utilitarian and sharp, but now
they held exotic food, roast meat and a colorful assortment of root vegetables
from Tanaab. And the vast majority of people who sat here now would imagine
that <i>this </i>was how the war had looked. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
caught his eye again. “I urged them not to do a banquet. It feels—”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Shady as
fuck?” he muttered with a raised eyebrow.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
pressed her lips together to suppress her quick smile at his irreverence. “I
was going to say <i>gauche </i>but yours works as well.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He nodded
his thanks to a serving droid as it placed his plate before him. It smelled
delicious if a little too mild for his tastes. He lifted his utensil to his
mouth, chewed and swallowed before saying, “I like my words better.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
began to eat her own food, eyeing the crowd before them. She paused with her
utensil held close to the plate, looking between her meal and the assembly. “I
do, too,” she finally replied.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<hr align="center" size="3" width="100%" />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Are you <i>certain,
</i>Ma’am?” the historian asked. “The bunk rooms are beautifully recreated,
offer the finest insight into the Rebel Experience. That was, after all, the
mission—”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han and
Leia stood at the ramp to the <i>Falcon. </i>He itched to get into more casual
clothing, to get out of public. The posturing was getting to him; it was time
to get out of sight. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He’d
hated Echo Base when it had been a functional military outpost. Now it was
almost unbearable.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“No,
thank you, Frissone. I’m sure the amenities are lovely. But I well know the
bunkrooms and would much prefer the safety and comfort of the <i>Millennium
Falcon.”</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han tried
to hide his smirk. Leia and he had discussed this invitation before she’d left
for her trade summit and she’d been absolutely firm in her position. Leia
Organa-Solo would not spend another night in a Hoth bunkroom if she had
anything to say about it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was
always fun to watch her argue with someone else. It was especially delicious now,
standing on the ramp of a ship in which she’d fought with <i>him </i>often
enough on this damn planet. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“If you
insist, Ma’am,” Frissone said, disappointed. “Good evening.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
tossed him a quick smile and led his wife up to the <i>Falcon</i>’s hatch, a
hand on her lower back, the train of her dress whispering behind them.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once the
hatch shut, she turned to him with sharp eyes and a grimace on her lips. “Are
you sure the kids will be okay in the bunkrooms?” she murmured. “Maybe they
should stay here with us?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han was
halfway out of his dress shirt already, tossing it angrily to the deck as if
the shirt itself had wronged him. “Leia. No.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Who
knows what they could do if they got it in their minds to, I don’t know,
hotwire the speaker system? Retrofit a Two-One-Bee? Try and restart an ion
cannon or two?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
laughed. “Wouldn’t put it past them to try,” he admitted. “But Luke’s there.
He’ll know if they’re up to something.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
nodded. “I suppose.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“And I’ll
give you odds that the old Rogues will keep them plenty entertained,” he added.
“And I never went anywhere near those bunkrooms the first time we were here.
Why the hell would I go anywhere near them now?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“To
provide feedback to the historical teams—”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Yeah,
no, sweetheart,” he interrupted, and tore off another thermal layer. “Sorry.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The whole
evening had left a bad taste in his mouth. Not the <i>people, </i>no. He loved
seeing Luke and the rest of the Rogues. It was nice to see Garm and Carlist and
even Ackbar. He loved having his kids there to see for themselves what Hoth
looked like. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But this
wasn’t really Hoth.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This was
a sliver of the truth. This was historical re-imagining to make difficult times
a little more palatable for the public. He didn’t want to see the bunkrooms
because he didn’t want to see what the historians had made of the bulky, subpar
sleeping bags or the grimy sonic showers. He didn’t want to see the suffering
of the bravest people he knew get short-shifted in favor of the delicate
sensibilities of people like his own children, who’d never gone without a good
meal and a hot shower. He was enormously proud of that fact, don’t get him
wrong. Leia and he had worked <i>hard </i>for their children’s stability. But
he also didn’t want to see it happening before his eyes.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
second thermal shirt joined its twin on the deck and he glanced at Leia. He
wondered if she were as bothered by this as he was. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Do you …
<i>like </i>what they’ve done here?” he asked, unsure. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia was
different than him in a lot of ways, despite their happy marriage. She had been
privileged as a child, like Jacen, Jaina and Anakin, and sometimes she
surprised him with her takes of difficult situations. Maybe she understood
something about this …. this <i>regression.</i> Retrograde. This re-do of
history.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He should
have known better. “I hate it,” she answered. “It feels disrespectful to me.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
nodded. “Yeah.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
committee insisted that certain amenities be included. The way we lived here on
Hoth wasn’t exactly hygienic or, uh, <i>legal, </i>strictly speaking. They had
to make some adjustments.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han
exhaled and fought against the last thermal shirt he wore, sweat-soaked and
disgusting. “Hygienic. Ha. Do you remember that time the sonic system went
down?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia
wrinkled her nose. “<i>Now </i>I do.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I
remember the Rogues trying to heat water for showers in a bonfire in the
hanger. The fire kept getting blown out by the wind.” </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He tossed
the last shirt to the deck, freshly free from the weight of all that clothing. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Thank
the Force for my water shower,” he added, casting a mischievous eye to his
wife.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gorgeous
in the low light of the <i>Falcon</i>’s ring corridor, Leia leaned against the
bulkhead with one foot peeking out from beneath the whisper-soft folds of her
dress. She looked so at home there that his breath caught. The striking
difference between the young—<i>ridiculously young</i>—warrior she’d been
twenty years ago and the confident, stunning powerhouse she was now. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If he had
imagined Leia Organa looking like this twenty years ago, he would have fallen
to his knees in awe a long time ago. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He was
being obvious, he knew, because she smirked and crossed her arms over her
chest. “Your water shower?” she asked with a playful wink.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“What?”
he asked, lost.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She
cocked her head to the side. The light panels caught her earrings—a re-creation
of Breha Organa’s coronation jewelry that he’d had made for her the day she’d
been elected to her second term—and the light refracted into a million prisms.
He took it all in with an awed expression, happy to be a little confounded by
this woman.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Leia’s
smile grew a little haughty, a sliver of her former attitude the last time
they’d been on this planet.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Is this
a ruse to entice me into your bunk? <i>Captain?</i>”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Han’s
brain struggled to keep up. “Yeah?” he said, confused. “Because that’s where we
sleep?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And also
he’d really, <i>really </i>like to get his hands under that dress. She had to
be uncomfortable. That, and she always found ways to surprise him when she’d
been away on diplomatic trips. He fell into imagination, picturing silks and
lace and the way Leia’s breasts looked in black. He liked black on her. A lot.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
couldn’t <i>wait. </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I have
no idea what you’re talking about, <i>Captain,” </i>she said. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
blinked. <i>Captain …. </i>Hells, she hadn’t called him <i>captain </i>in
years. When she was baiting him these days, she called him <i>general. </i>The
higher rank, the bigger achievement to the eyes of the galaxy, though he’d
never found it as comfortable as the <i>captain. </i>Even on Hoth, she’d only
used <i>captain </i>when she’d wanted to get a rise out of him—</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Captain,
being held by you isn’t quite enough to get me excited.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“That
right?” he mumbled, catching on. “No idea?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">She shook
her head and Han was overwhelmed by the idea of angry, righteous Leia Organa in
his ship, on <i>this planet, </i>for the first time, all indignation and pride.
The years slipped away and there she was, the princess he adored but flatly
refused to love. The only person who could push him to his breaking point and
leave him desperate for more. He’d loved her for decades now, had forged a life
with her: kids, careers, a <i>future. </i>Was head-over-heels for her.
Would do anything for her. Regularly dress up because she asked, because it was
important to her. Would attend stupid, depressing commemoration ceremonies for
her, knowing she would fly home with him on his ship because he felt safest
with her here. That she’d rearrange her schedule if he fell sick to care for
him, would delegate trivial responsibilities if he asked the same way he would
for her. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
somehow she could flip a switch and turn back into the fathomless Princess of
Alderaan. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It’s
awful cold out there,” he said, nodding to the hatch. “Want a drink to warm you
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
thought about the way the historians had glamorized the base, how the memories
of some could be so quick to forget the horror of this place. He thought about
Echo Base <i>having heat, </i>what an abysmal failure that was to recognize the
sacrifices of the original Alliance. The way the public would flock to this new
historical site and imagine, like Fey’lya and Falnor did, that <i>this </i>was
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cold were
the short memories of the people who’d waited to be rescued from the Empire.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Just
one,” she responded and led him into the galley. “And then I’m leaving.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: ""arial"",serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He grinned
to her back, at the beautiful play of her shoulder-blades. “Sure you will,” he
murmured, and felt his heart pick up its rhythm.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Mention"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">A/N: Many thanks to my beta-reader, Jenny CBS!
I couldn't do this without your support! Hats off also to my friends on the
Discord chat. Y'all bring such fun into my life! I hope you enjoy this little
seven-chapter story that sort of fits Zyra’s holiday challenge at
hanleiafanficwriters.blogspot.com. Updates will be frequent, because the whole
thing is done. Finally! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">For those of you who don't know me, please
note that I don't adhere to Disney canon or sad parts of Legends. All my
stories will be OT compliant only, or AUs rooted in the OT. This one fits the
latter category, with Legends kids and my own timeline. Don't like? Then you
should read something else, a story that makes you happy. There are so many
fics out there, just waiting to be enjoyed!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Reviews not only are welcome, they are
treasured! I will keep each one close to my heart, no matter how short. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">And now, without further ado, I present to
you…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN">Second
Time Around</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 1</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia raised her eyebrow and placed her hand on
her hip. She looked back at Han. “It’s a bit small, don't you think?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Pushing their luggage cart, Han crossed the
short entryway, surveyed their quarters for the night, and realized that Leia
was right. Directly to his right was the bed, which faced a dresser with a
holoscreen on top. Crammed between the other side of the bed and the far wall
was a loveseat and kaffe table. Behind him on either side of the door were the
fresher and a mirrored closet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Well, what’d you expect, Sweetheart? It’s
late,” Han grunted as he heaved a suitcase off the overloaded cart and onto the
floor of the hotel room. “Not my fault that they messed up our reservation.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Nodding her head in resignation, Leia stared
at the only bed, a queen-sized one. “And this is our only option. So we'll have
to make do.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Yeah,” Han grumbled, wiping sweat from his
brow. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">He had a bad feeling about this. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">Vacations
are supposed to be fun, but this ain't fun,</span></i><span lang="EN"> Han
thought to himself. He had planned this trip as a surprise for his lovely
overworked wife, hoping that this visit would have fewer complications than
their first. “So far, not so good,” he mused in frustration, regretting his
choice to travel under assumed identities. The benefit of anonymity, of course,
was privacy, but the unintended side-effect included losing their suite to what
appeared to be a Zeltron bachelorette party.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Turning back to the cart, Han reached for
another bag just as a small force darted out of the fresher, careening into his
legs and nearly toppling him over. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Hey! Calm down, little buddy,” Han exclaimed,
reaching for the five year-old mischief-maker, but the boy dodged to the right,
then scrambled onto the bed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Sorry, Daddy! Come play with me!” he
exclaimed, giggling as he bounced to his feet and began jumping. Noticing
Anakin’s joyful exuberance, Han felt his exasperation begin to fade. An
uncontrollable urge to grin overtook him, and he covered his mouth and turned
away, not wanting to encourage his son’s considerable energy at this hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">His smile suppressed, Han turned back around,
ready to admonish Anakin. At that moment, Leia looked up from her unpacking at
the foot of the bed and gave their son The Look, a pointed expression that
tended to inspire both respect as well as a sprinkling of dread in its
recipients. “Anakin! You need to stop. People are sl…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">The door swung open, hitting the door jamb
with a bang and two figures burst into the room. Startled, Han instinctively
grabbed for his currently absent blaster, then stopped himself, realizing their
identities, but not before slamming his funny bone on the luggage cart.
Tingling pain shot down his arm, and he rubbed his elbow. He attempted to smile
at their seven-year-old twins, but it felt more like a forced grimace. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Jaina’s excitement boiled over first. “MOM!
DAD! THERE ARE VENDING MACHINES DOWN THE HALL!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“AND AN ICE MAKER! CAN WE…?” Jacen began.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Shhh…” Still holding Anakin’s arm, Leia held
a finger to her lips as she spoke to their children. “Inside voices! People are
sleep…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Jacen continued in a quieter yet still excited
tone, while Jaina smiled encouragingly at him. “Ok, ok. Can we get Super Sugar
Blasts…” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“...or Zamberry Nerfherders?” Jaina finished
her twin’s question, looking hopefully at her mother.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia shook her head and responded, “Not
tonight. It’s bed time for you three.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I want a Wookiee Cookie,” Anakin chimed in,
now sitting next to their mother on the bed, appearing quite interested in the
topic his siblings had introduced.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Pleeeeease?” All three wheedled
simultaneously, their hands pressed together as if the Goddess might assist
them in their quest for goodies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Shaking his still-tingling arm and laughing
darkly, Han turned to them and replied with a stern “No.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Two little faces gazed at their father, eyes
wide and lips turned down in disappointment. The third, the oldest, albeit by
only five minutes, changed her strategy. She picked up the ice bucket from the
dresser. Grasping it in both hands and holding it to her chest as if it were a
prized possession, she squared her shoulders and said in a voice beyond her
years, “I'll get some ice so you two can have a refreshing glass of ice water,
and while I'm there, I'll get treats for everyone.” Jaina smiled expectantly,
glancing from her father to her mother and back again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han shook his head. “No. Any more sugar and
none of us will sleep.” He pointed at his daughter and smiled. “Nice try
though.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“We all need our rest so we won't be too tired
to do fun things tomorrow,” Leia explained as she reached into the suitcase and
pulled out pajamas for each of them. “There are many places to explore on Ord
Mantell.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">----------------------------------------</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 2</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Their nighttime routine completed, Han tucked
the still-giggling twins into their “bed,” which in reality was a makeshift
sleeping pallet that the kids had constructed on the floor in the far corner of
the room, using all the actual bed’s covers except the bottom sheet. It wasn't
very soft, with only a folded blanket between their little bodies and the
floor, but the twins seemed thrilled with their creation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“It's like camping,” a smiling Jaina remarked
as she crawled under the sheet and snuggled her head into her pillow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Jacen poked his head up from where he lay
beside his sister. “Yeah! Can we go camping? I wanna go camping for real!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“How ‘bout we see how well tonight goes
first,” Han replied with a chuckle, then looked over at Anakin. “Lie down, pal.
You’re not gonna sleep like that.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia leaned over to kiss Anakin. Their
youngest sat in a jumble of covers on the loveseat, which had pulled out to
become a single bunk, thus at least partially solving their sleep space
problem. She knew immediately what he was about to say even before she noticed
his big saucer-shaped eyes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“But I’m not tired!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Neither are we,” exclaimed the floor
sleepers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han smiled at them and shook his head. “We’ve
been flying for 17 hours. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m</i> tired,
so you’re <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">definitely</i> tired!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">In years past, he would have scoffed at
feeling worn out after flying for that relatively short amount of time.
Traveling with Chewie across the galaxy was one thing, he reminded himself.
Traveling with kids? That was something else. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Good night, kids. We love you.” Leia dimmed
the lights to low and turned the air circulation to high, both for comfort and
for the system’s sound muffling qualities. She followed Han to the entryway,
stepping around the cart to stand near the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han and Leia faced each other, and she smiled
up at him as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m going to return
the luggage cart and bring back extra bedding. You need anything?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">A shiver of excitement traveled down Leia’s
spine in response to Han’s low murmur. Even after so many years together, that
voice never ceased to thrill her. She slipped her hands between them and placed
them on his chest. Flashing a flirty grin, she glanced up at him through her
eyelashes and whispered her reply. “What do you have in mind, Captain?” Her
eyes flickered in the direction of their children, then back to his hazel ones.
“Given our current situation, of course.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Plenty.” Han responded with a lopsided grin
and her heart skipped a beat. “But the good stuff will have to wait.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I know,” Leia replied. She stood on her
tiptoes, ran her hands up his chest and around his neck, drawing him toward
her, their lips meeting in a light yet lingering kiss. Pulling away, her eyes
met his and she gave a little smile. “Don’t be long,” she said in a breathless
tone, and her smile grew when she felt his heart rate increase in response.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">They disengaged, and Leia opened the door for
her husband. He pulled the cart into the hallway, winking at her on his way
out. She thought she might melt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Once the door closed, Leia crept over to the
dresser, slowly opened a drawer and rifled through her clothing. Unable to see
more than dark amorphous shapes, she chose two items that felt like the sleep
shorts and camisole she'd packed. Soft, well-worn, and rather modest, Han had
jokingly deemed them her “family friendly” pajamas, as they differed greatly in
style from those she donned when they were alone together. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">-------------------------------------</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 3</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han had not returned by the time she was ready
for bed, so Leia stood in the almost-darkness of their room, considering her
choices. She wanted to read from her datapad, as she did most nights before
sleeping in Han’s arms... or not sleeping, as proximity and caresses often led
to more active behaviors. A warm sensation began to spread through her body as
her mind drifted to the latter. But as lovemaking was a non-option in their
current predicament, Leia turned her attention back to more realistic
possibilities.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She could lie down on the bare mattress and
try to sleep as she waited for Han’s return, a wise idea given that the kids
were early risers despite their late night. But after a full day of travel and
kids and logistics, she felt wired rather than tired. She knew that if she
closed her eyes in an attempt to drift off, her mind would do the opposite,
bringing problems to solve and ideas to remember. And she would remain wide
awake.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She could watch Holonet, but it would have to
be on silent, and even then it would emit light, as would her datapad, no doubt
attracting the attention of young eyes. Her ears attuned to anything that might
relate to her children, Leia glanced in the direction of their sleeping
arrangement. The rustling of sheets indicated that the kids had not yet fallen
asleep, and Leia did not wish to encourage their wakefulness. She made her
decision.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">With a sigh of resignation, she turned to her
right and entered her destination for the evening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">The fresher.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">As the door closed behind her, the lights came
on, flooding the small tile room with brightness. Leia squinted until her eyes
began to adjust, then took a plush white towel from the shelf above the closed
toilet, spread it on the lid for a bit of comfort, and sat down. Wondering what
was taking Han so long, she looked longingly at the bathtub, imagining the
soothing sensation of warm water, foaming bath salts, and her husband’s hands
working wonders on her skin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">However, given that the kids were still awake,
she knew that a bath at this moment might not be a relaxing one. She picked up
her datapad from the counter, selected a juicy article on the latest holostar
gossip, and began to read.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">Thunk.
Thunk. Thunk.</span></i><span lang="EN"> Even with the white noise of the air
circulator, Leia heard kid antics and laughter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She sprang to her feet and dashed into the
dimly-lit bedroom just in time to see the giggling twins flop down onto their
pillows and pull the blanket over their heads. Anakin lay face-down and
spread-eagle in the middle of the still-vibrating mattress, pressing on it with
his arms and legs as if attempting to stop the motion and hide the evidence of
their misbehavior.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia wasn’t fooled. She placed her hands on
her hips and addressed all three of them. “No jumping!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Then, she looked at Anakin. “Bed,” she said
sternly, pointing to his sleeping arrangement on the loveseat. His eyes flashed
wide open in response, and he obeyed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia looked at her children, now lying
motionless. An Alderaanian saying played in her mind, one that she had heard
from her parents on many occasions: “Never go to bed angry.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sensing their tension, her own irritation
melted away, overshadowed by her unconditional love for them. She knelt beside
the twins’ pallet on the floor, pulled their blanket back from their faces,
then tucked it snugly around them, kissing each of them on the forehead. Then,
she made her way to Anakin’s bedside and did the same with him. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Gazing at the three of them curled up in their
covers, she prompted them. “Guess how much I love you.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Three little voices, well-versed in their
mother's favorite children's story, chanted the next line in unison. “How
much?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I love you to the moon… and back,” she
replied as she reset the lights, this time to almost total darkness. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">-------------------------------------</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 4</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia placed her datapad on the counter,
crossed her arms, and frowned. Forty-two minutes had passed since Han’s
departure. She huffed in frustration, wondering what in seven hells he could be
doing to be gone for so long with such simple tasks of getting bedding and
returning a luggage cart. A sliver of worry crept into her thoughts. Their
lives had been inundated with chaos and destruction in the years immediately
following the first Death Star. Although the Empire had been defeated on Endor,
heralding a new era of peace and fair government, fresh dangers occasionally
had threatened their new stability, and Han still had enemies from his former
association with the criminal underbelly of society. And here they were, back
on Ord Mantell, where fear and pain had shut down their joy and passion.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Trying to quell the growing tickle of anxiety
in her gut, Leia reached for her comm and looked at the small data screen.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> One missed transmission</i>, it read. From
the time log, she realized that it had come through while she was getting the
kids back in bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">And then she saw the message. “Miss me yet?”
His words were followed by a small symbol, a stylized winking cartoon
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Breathing a sigh of relief, Leia’s tension
dissipated at his cheeky tone. “Han, where are you?” she typed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">His reply flashed across the screen almost
immediately. “I knew it. You miss me!” A cartoon face again accompanied his
message, but this time its mouth was an impossibly large smile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She rolled her eyes, then chuckled as she sent
her response. “No, really. Where are you?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Downstairs, but I’d rather be with you. Kids
sleepin’ yet?” The face had been replaced by a red heart of the same size.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia grinned and shook her head, not as an
answer to his question, but in reaction to her husband's expressiveness. She
looked at her chronometer, then typed, “No sounds from the bedroom in 27
minutes, so I think we're in the clear.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Good. Figured it’s best for me to sneak back
in once they’re out cold.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She raised her eyebrow and pecked out her
reply. “Ah, so that’s why you stayed away. The comfortable chairs and fireplace
in the lobby had nothing to do with it.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Nah, Sweetheart. Too busy for that. I’m
gettin’ something for you!” Another symbol followed his message. Leia looked
carefully. It appeared to be a tiny cartoon image of a gift-wrapped box.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Oh? And what might it be?” She smiled as she
responded, then added little hearts at the end, simply because she knew he
would like them. She shook her head. Who would guess that Han Solo, with all
his outward bravado, was so enamoured with datamojis? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“You’ll see. Back soon.” [Winky face, heart]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">----------------------------------</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 5</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">With the kids sound asleep and Han returning
soon, Leia decided to make room for him on the room's only “seat” by drawing a
bath for herself. Yes, it was somewhat risky, in that a child might need to use
the fresher, but she had pulled the curtain closed. And a bath really was the
most practical choice, she told herself. Any pleasure she derived would be
simply a secondary result, a happy accident.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia slipped into the water, leaning backward
until its warmth caressed her face and her long chestnut locks floated freely
around her. Running her fingers through her hair, she resurfaced, then reclined
her head and shoulders against the cool porcelain of the the small rectangular
tub. She stretched her arms in front of her and rested them along the sides.
Her skin tingled as the foaming bath salts dissolved, their floral fragrance
permeating the air and stimulating memories too intimate to be preserved in a
holo-album. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She recalled a natural hot spring shimmering
under a blanket of stars, which had provided a welcome respite from Hoth’s
bitter cold. That long-ago supply run to Naboo had been an escape from their
comrades, whose intense curiosity she and Han couldn’t avoid while on base.
They weren’t together… publicly. In private, however, their interactions had
progressed beyond friendship and flirting. Having spent her entire life under
the galactic spotlight, Leia had wanted to keep their romance under wraps for a
while longer, as something special, just for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">The opening and closing of the hotel room door
interrupted Leia’s reverie, and she opened her eyes as the fresher door
swooshed wide, then shut, its locking mechanism clicking into place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Hey Sweetheart.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">A large hand pulled the curtain back,
revealing the tall, handsome form of her husband. His eyes roved over the parts
of her not obscured by the thin sheen of bubbles, then lingered on her
barely-concealed breasts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“You’re late.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Looks like I arrived at the perfect time.”
Han placed a crinkled tan package on the counter, then sat down on the closed
toilet. “An’ I got the best seat in the house.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia raised her eyebrow. “What’s in the bag,
Hotshot?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">He reached back to retrieve it. “Got somethin’
for you.” His twinkling eyes and lopsided smile made her heart skip. Their
gazes locked on each other, and after a few seconds, Leia noticed that he'd
made no further effort in regard to the gift, its packaging still hiding the
mysterious contents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Well?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Well, what?” Han countered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Are you going to show it to me?” Leia
responded, with a coy tilt to her head. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han glanced at the bag, then back at Leia.
“You want this,” he teased in that soft baritone voice that never failed to
send a wave of pleasure through her body.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Scoundrel.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Who, me?” Han pointed at himself, his
expression one of mock disbelief. “I’m a nice man.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“No, you're not,” Leia admonished as she held
his gaze. “You’re a scoundrel, making me wait.” Her lips were pursed in a pout,
yet twitching to grin as she suppressed a rising urge to giggle at their
familiar words.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Whatcha gonna do about it, Princess?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Mmm…” A flush of anticipation spread through
Leia’s body. She fingered the facecloth that lay under her hand, inhaling
deeply as she reminded herself that their current situation wasn’t conducive to
a night of passion. But as playful possibilities began to dawn on her, Leia’s
eyes sparkled with mischief. She immersed the cloth in the bath, then looked at
Han, whose lopsided grin made her flush. Yes, she wanted the package. But
mostly, she wanted his soft lips moving against her lips and his talented hands
roving over her body. And if she had to work for it, then so be it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia tilted her head, then lifted the dampened
fabric to her exposed neck, savoring the sensation as well as her husband’s
rapt attention. Warm water ran along her skin, traveling over her collarbone
and following the rise of her chest before merging with the bubbly surface. Han
swallowed hard, his intense gaze generating a flutter of excitement. With lips
turned up in muted delight, Leia raised her knee, then slowly extended her leg
out of the water as she smoothed the cloth over her glistening skin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She closed her eyes, relishing the soft
warmth. Calloused fingers cupped her heel, then enveloped her ankle, and she
opened her eyes to see Han now sitting on the side of the tub. He grasped her
foot with his other hand, and began gently massaging her toes. Continuing to
support her ankle, he gradually brushed a hand along her lower leg, kneading
her calf with sensuous ministrations that made her pulse quicken. A niggling
concern about their current close quarters inched its way into Leia’s
awareness, and she pushed it away, distracted and desirous for more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“You like this,” Han murmured. His careful
attentions softened to a delicate touch while he began to move both hands up
her leg.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Mmm…” Leia closed her eyes, enjoying the heat
of their abiding attraction. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han’s fingers grazed her knee and trailed
slowly upward toward more intimate areas, one hand reaching her waist while the
other massaged her inner thigh. Leia arched her back and his thumb brushed the
underside of her breast. She gasped, her body craving more, much more. But she
knew that her desires could not be fulfilled here and now. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She lifted her head and saw that Han's
expression was no longer playful. His eyes, now darkened with need, mirrored
the fantasies galloping through her mind. If he could join her in the bath, she
would move to straddle him…<span style="color: red;"> </span>Her thoughts were
jumbled, and she sifted through the fragments to remember her original goal:
the package.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia struggled for a moment to find words.
Han's face was moving ever-closer to hers, now mere centims away. “You didn't
answer my question,” she whispered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han sat back slightly, and Leia noticed his
eyes raking over her body once more. "What..." he began, his voice
foggy as if with sleep, then cleared his throat. "What question?"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia grinned, pleased that their passion had
derailed his brain as well as hers. She looked leadingly toward the neglected
bag, now lying on its side by the door.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han’s eyes followed hers, and a sheepish smile
crossed his face. “Oh, yeah.” He picked it up from the floor, and began to
unfurl the top. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Bedding’s in the room, by the way. We got the
last comforter, but I know you'll still stick your frozen toes under my legs
anyway.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Han, I only do that on ice planets.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“That's ‘cause you know I'm hot.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia rolled her eyes, and Han’s expression
turned mock-serious. “Leia Amidala Organa Solo, you will sprain your eyeballs
if you keep doing that.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She laughed at his rather accurate
impersonation of a statement she had repeated several times to the twins of
late. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han pulled out a bottle of ale and placed it
on the counter. “Corellia’s Finest,” he said, reading the label, then grinned
at her. “Hey, it’s me!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia raised an eyebrow, then squinted as she
made out the other words. “Does that say... Butt Cheek Brewing Company?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Yep. Classy little operation out in the
countryside. Brewmasters are a bunch of ladies who really know their stuff. But
I have something else for you.” He took a small dark bottle out of the bag.
“This ain't much, but it fits the occasion.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Upon first glance, it seemed to be an
inexpensive bottle of red wine, the kind available at most every fueling
station. But then Leia noticed the script on the white label, which read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">10 Years.</i> She smiled up at her husband,
then read the smaller print: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Celebrating
a decade of fine wines by Mantelli Vineyards.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Happy anniversary, Sweetheart.” Han's deep
voice sent shivers down her spine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I love you,” Leia replied, watching curiously
as Han turned to place the bottle on the counter, then reached for another
object beside the sink. He proceeded to remove the wrapper, revealing a
plastene cup. Tossing the trash into the small receptacle in the corner, he
picked up the bottle again, then began to pour its content into the clear cup. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia suppressed a laugh when she realized that
she and Han were about to celebrate their anniversary, their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tenth</i> anniversary, by drinking cheap
alcohol in a tiny hotel fresher. Not wanting to insult his effort to present a
meaningful gift, she concealed her grin with her hand, then found herself
distracted by a sensuous mouth, a strong jawline, stubbly skin she longed to
touch, and hazel eyes that were looking into her own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“See something you want, Your Highness?” He
leaned forward, offering the drink to her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Her gaze flicked to the cup, then back to her
husband. She raised an eyebrow. “Fancy.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Hey, it could be worse!” Han quipped as she
took the cup from his outstretched hand. “You could have to drink out of the
bottle!” He winked, then gave his bottle of ale a slight tip in her direction
before taking a swig.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">A small grin tugged at her lips as she watched
her husband swallow, his Adam's apple moving up and down. She held her cup just
under her nose, swirled the contents, and inhaled, noticing the spicy yet sweet
aroma. Considering his joking declaration, she sipped her wine, savoring the
intermingling full-bodied, complex flavors. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“True. We’ve endured quite a bit of worse.”
Her voice now soft, she glanced from her drink back to Han and continued. “No
regrets?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“No regrets, Sweetheart,” he replied. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">They looked at each other for a moment, and
the sincerity of his words filled her awareness, resonating with her own
sentiments about their life together. Leia grinned, and stretched her legs
until her toes touched the end of the tub. She wiggled them. It wasn’t that she
ever doubted his feelings for her; he had demonstrated his devotion to her—to
their family—innumerable times. However, it felt good to hear him say it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I’d let you marry a gorgeous guy like me all over
again.” Han looked pleased with himself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Raising an eyebrow, Leia replied, “I'm not
sure we could squeeze a third wedding between your assignments, my meetings,
and the kids’ Jedi training.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Good thing you finished your own training, or
we’d really be swamped.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“True.” Leia smiled, then took another sip of
her wine. “And it's a good thing that our first trip here was postponed or this
may have happened very differently.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“You mean we wouldn’t be drinking in a hotel
bathroom on our anniversary? ‘Cause I’d rather celebrate another way.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia rolled her eyes at his exaggerated leer.
“Well, so would I. But that's not what I'm saying. When the original Ord
Mantell supply run was planned, I'd just finally let myself like you.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Even at that early point in their
acquaintance, Leia had known that her feelings for Han greatly exceeded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like</i>, but after losing everyone she
loved, she had feared opening herself to the possibility of more loss and pain.
Then there had been the guilt... She’d not permitted herself to pursue
something as frivolous as romance after the Empire had destroyed her planet and
victory seemed nowhere in sight. But then, the handsome smuggler from the
garbage smasher had found his way to her heart. They'd endured many obstacles
together, yet he had remained at her side, first as a courageous and steadfast
friend, and eventually as a lover. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia’s eyes moved to the cup in her hand, and
she remembered the long-ago Hoth day when she first acted on her growing
feelings for Han. Protected only by thin gloves, her hands had been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bone cold</i> in Alderaanian terms, so cold
that she could barely feel her fingers, even after Han had invited her onto the
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Falcon</i>. Although she’d attempted to
conceal her discomfort, Han had noticed. Leia had felt as if time stopped when
he took her hands in his. She remembered thinking, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh, yes,</i> as he’d pulled her closer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Although the moment had been lost when an
exasperated Wookiee interrupted them, Leia had stayed, and Han had served her
favorite drink, hot chocolate. He’d also given her his much thicker gloves. The
warmth of Han’s gifts had been more than physical; his kindness had comforted
her lonely soul. So she'd mustered her resolve and asked him to accompany her
on the Ord Mantell supply run. When he accepted, she'd felt both elated and
relieved, as if the two of them had found and placed a missing puzzle piece.
Being with Han felt right. The kiss she’d placed on his cheek, although
innocent, marked the beginning of a very different type of relationship and a
new world for both of them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Shortly thereafter, Leia had fallen ill, as
had almost half the base personnel. She hadn’t been surprised when Command had
cancelled that initial mission. However, despite her fever and weakness, she’d
been frustrated and disappointed rather than thankful at the chance to recuperate.
But Han had taken good care of her during and after her recovery.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Very good care, </i>she mused. And she had
reciprocated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Then, six months later, High Command had
rescheduled the Ord Mantell run, sending Han and Leia to this “land of casinos
and nature’s wonders,” as Han had described it. There, they had met with their
supplier, a fellow Alderaanian who owned a large orchard just outside of the
city in the foothills of the Juvel Mountains. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">They’d spent a bright afternoon together,
filling the Falcon’s cargo hold with crates of much-needed tangelina and limon
fruits. Han had taken Leia’s hand, but this time she wore no gloves. She could
feel the calluses on his work-roughened hands as he rubbed his thumb tenderly
across her palm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Got somethin’ to tell you.” His serious tone
made her stomach drop. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">Was he
leaving? </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Come ‘ere.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Gripped by uncertainty, she glanced up. At the
sight of his grin, hope had replaced anxiety. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han had led her toward a grove of fruit trees
with large orange and white blossoms. There, as they faced each other under the
fragrant branches, he’d taken her other hand. “I’m stayin’ with you. An’ with
the Alliance.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia recalled how her heart had leapt, how
she'd thrown her arms around him and kissed him despite the fact that they
hadn't yet made their romance public. In that moment, she wouldn't have cared if
the entire Alliance had seen them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">And their kisses had deepened once they
returned to the privacy of the Falcon. What wickedly wonderful things they'd
done with each other that night… Those memories still made her face flush and
her body tingle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She and Han had finally emerged from his cabin
to take a speeder into the city, one they’d borrowed from their supplier. Under
assumed identities, they’d planned to go to dinner at Paradisi, where the
finest chefs on the planet prepared unique dishes using fresh ingredients from
local orchards and farms. Given their usual diet of years-old processed and
preserved foodstuffs, eating fresh and local was an opportunity they couldn't
resist.<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If only we'd not left the Falcon…</i> The
thought had occurred to Leia many times, but less frequently as the years
passed and new memories—happy ones—soothed her pain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“You definitely liked me,” Han said with a
smirk, bringing her attention back to the present. “Just took you a while to
admit it.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia rolled her eyes. “A long while,” she
quipped. Her thoughts flashed to images of exchanges relatively early in their…
what would she call it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Friendship</i> was too standoffish, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relationship</i> was too open. Past platonic
but not yet a couple...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">As if he had read her mind, Han chuckled and
shook his head. “We were somethin’ then, but we sure didn't know what.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia sniffed her wine again, then ran a finger
around the rim of the cup. “We were wasting time. Two-and-a-half years...”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Nah, Sweetheart. It wasn't a waste. We just
got to know each other <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real well</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Han waggled his eyebrows at her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia huffed in amusement. She still very much
enjoyed their gentle banter. At the beginning, their intense interactions had
been fortified by their mutual strong feelings for each other, which neither
had been willing to acknowledge. Even then, she had found those encounters
energizing for reasons that she had refused to say, even to herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia looked up at her husband. “You could be a
real nerfherder sometimes. But I wasn’t perfect either.” She smiled. “I knew
there was more to you than money.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">-------------------------------</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 6</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Still seated on the hard lid of the toilet,
Han took another drink, then set the<span style="color: red;"> </span>now-empty
ale bottle on the counter. He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back,
stretching out his aching back and legs. His eyes were drawn back to the lovely
figure in the bath, and he concluded that the view was well worth any
discomfort.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia smiled, and his heart skipped a beat.
Through the bubbles, he glimpsed hints of those curves he longed to touch. Han
swallowed. He would have done just about anything for her to rise out of the
water, with the thin layer of soap running down her glistening form, gradually
revealing beauty that only they knew. She’d step out of the bath, and he would
caress her soft skin with a warm, dry towel, then entice her to bed and.... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia brought the cup of wine to her slightly
parted lips and took a sip. “Happy anniversary, Hotshot. Too bad this tub isn't
like the one in our honeymoon suite. We would have made much better use of it.”
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Her sultry voice nearly convinced Han to turn
his fantasies into reality, right then and there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han blinked. “Uh, yeah,” he rasped then
cleared his throat. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia's eyes sparkled with mischief. “Pitten’s
got your tongue?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Refusing to concede defeat to his wife’s
teasing remark, Han grinned back at her. “Pita? Nah. We left her at home.
Probably tearing up the curtains right now.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“She's with Chewie, Han.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Probably tearing up HIS curtains then.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia winced. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han laughed. “There's a reason we named her
Pita.” He raised his eyebrows. “Pain-in-the-ass.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia leaned her head back and looked at the ceiling.
“I know, I know,” she groaned. “Chewie seems to like her though, and at least
the kids still think she’s named after the flatbread they like so much.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han shrugged. “Same color.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“They’re smart kids. They’ll figure it out at
some point.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">He raised a finger and smiled. “But not yet.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia’s lips turned up as she gazed into her
cup of wine. Very little was left. She placed it on the side of the tub, then
immersed her arms into the water, running her hands down her thighs. She tilted
her head and looked up at Han through thick lashes. “I don’t want to talk about
pets or kids,” she said. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“So what do ya wanna do, Princess?” Those deep
brown eyes… that luxurious hair… that seductive body… Han knew what he wanted
to do. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia reached for her cup and finished the last
sip, then held the cup toward him. He took it from her and placed it on the
counter next to the empty bottles. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She folded her arms, and rubbed her biceps.
“I’m cold.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">His fantasies now muted by mild concern, Han
moved forward and crouched next to his wife. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’re in a bath. How can you be cold? </i>He hoped she hadn’t
contracted Findris Flu. But once he dipped his hand in the water and realized
that it had cooled, he grinned in relief. “Still warmer than Echo Base
showers.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“That’s not saying much, Han.” She curled her
legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">With gentle fingers, Han took her small hand
in his, finding her skin cool to the touch. “You're trembling,” he murmured. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Shaking her head, Leia gave a small grin. “I’m
not trembling.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">He kissed her quivering hand. “Yes, you are.
Let’s warm you up, Sweetheart.” He waggled his eyebrows at her, then turned
away to reach a towel on the shelf behind the fresher seat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Potential ways to warm Leia up flashed through
his mind. Skin-to-skin contact—their bodies pressed together with limbs
entwined—was usually his favorite strategy. But that required an element they
lacked at the moment: privacy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">Idiots. </span></i><span lang="EN">Han once again silently cursed the hotel reservations department for
their abrupt room change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Han?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia’s voice pulled him back to the present.
Glancing in her direction, he became transfixed by the very real vision
standing before him. A lopsided grin stole across his face as his eyes roamed
over her body. She’d risen and stepped out of the tub. Her long, damp hair hung
over her shoulders and down her back, with escaped tendrils hugging her curves
like chestnut waves painted on alabaster skin. She placed a hand on her hip, on
that smooth, wet skin he longed to touch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Han!” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Her emphatic tone caught his attention, yet
all he could do was utter, “Huh,” while continuing to admire her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia eyed him patiently. “May I have that
towel?” She motioned toward the fluffy white one in his hands.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han had forgotten that he was even holding a
towel. The fleeting thought occurred to him that he'd rather not hide her
lovely body, but she was cold, and he couldn't have that. “‘Course,” he
rumbled, then opened the towel with a flourish. “It's all yours, Sweetheart.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia turned so that her back faced him, and
Han at once wrapped the soft cloth around her, delighting in how she leaned
into his chest. He kissed her temple. “Let’s go to bed,” he murmured in her
ear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I like the sound of that.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">-------------------------------</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Chapter 7</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Ready?” Leia asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Always.” Spoken from directly behind her,
Han’s baritone voice in her loosely braided hair sparked a thrill that reached
her toes. She felt his strong hands grasp her hips, pressing his firm body to
hers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Han!” Her words came out in a whispered
giggle. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han laughed, and her breath caught as he
kissed her neck. “Sorry, Sweetheart. We don't have space for anything else.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment.
“If only…” she began to imagine before reality returned to her awareness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gave her head a quick shake, set her jaw,
and refocused her attention on their mission: exiting the fresher and getting
into bed without disturbing the kids. Although they already had donned their
sleep clothes, thus increasing their chance of success, she knew they could
never be too careful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Ready for the task at hand, Leia turned and
looked up at her husband. His hazel eyes and lopsided grin once again made her
heart skip, and she found herself lamenting the existence of his sleep shorts
and t-shirt. She blinked, momentarily escaping her distracting thoughts. “Shall
we?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Alright. Let's do this.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">With one hand still on her waist, Han dimmed
the fresher lights until the small room was cast in a low glow. Leia palmed the
door open, and they peered into the darkness toward the sleeping area. Unable
to see anything, she paused for a moment to allow her eyes to adjust, and felt
the warmth of Han’s hands on her shoulders. She then opened her mind to their
children, sensing their peaceful presences. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Out cold,” Leia whispered as she crept into
the bedroom with Han following behind her, carrying the extra blankets he’d
picked up earlier. She placed her hand on the wall and then the bed as she
stepped forward, an old habit rendered unnecessary by her Jedi training, but it
was comforting nonetheless. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han plopped the bedding on their mattress,
which in turn made rather non-mattress-like sounds. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">"Ow...," a child's voice groaned.<br />
<br />
"Wanna cookie," another one mumbled.<br />
<br />
A third whined unintelligible syllables.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Then, in the faint light from the fresher,
Leia watched with dread as the bed appeared to come to life. Dark, moving lumps
reminded her of a campy horror holoflick she'd seen as a university student
where a glob of black slime grew as it engulfed sentient after sentient. She'd
laughed at the silliness then, but these blanket-covered amorphous masses were
real.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Her battle instincts were activated, and she
froze. Glancing at Han’s silhouette, she saw that he had done the same. They
were in a dangerous predicament. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Never
wake a sleepin’ kid </i>was the old Corellian saying, and they were on the cusp
of waking three.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">There they remained, motionless and barely
daring to breathe, for what seemed like forever. Despite her concern, Leia's
lips turned upward as an image of Threepio came to mind, complete with his
clipped voice reporting their dwindling odds of a restful night in each other's
arms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Finally, the lumps stilled. Leia closed her
eyes, again observing the children’s mental states through the Force. Anakin’s
mind felt serene. His consciousness had quieted and turned inward; his
breathing and heart rate had slowed. Clearly, he was asleep. She turned her
attention to the twins, finding their brains at ease, but still somewhat aware.
Leia frowned. She really wanted everyone to be well-rested for the days to
follow, and she knew from past experiences that the twins were likely to awaken
soon. She considered her ability to manipulate their brains into sleep states.
It was something she and Han had joked about, especially during their
sleep-deprived early parenting days. But despite the temptation, Leia had never
done it, preferring to use her Force abilities to understand and comfort their
children rather than to actively control their minds. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">She only engaged in the latter if their safety
was at risk, which unfortunately was a rather frequent occurrence in the
Organa-Solo household. Leia recalled how only last week she'd dashed from the
cockpit to check on the kids in the all-too-quiet lounge. She'd had a bad
feeling about what she'd find. <br />
<br />
"Stop!" Her shout had echoed in her head as well as her ears. A surge
of power had flowed from her to her children, familiar and practiced, yet no
less emphatic. <br />
<br />
All three had frozen over the disassembled dejarik table, its wires dangling in
haphazard patterns from the open top. <br />
<br />
Jacen had straightened his posture and then spoken. "It's not our fault!
It won't work, and Dad's busy!”<br />
<br />
"So we're helping," Jaina had added.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia smiled at the memory as the soft rustle
of careful movement caught her attention. She opened her eyes to see Han's dark
figure reaching for the bedding. “Not yet,” Leia whispered, and he stopped. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Jaina let out a low moan from her spot on the
side of the bed closest to Han. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">Here we
go,</span></i><span lang="EN"> Leia thought, closing her eyes again and taking a
deep breath as she readied herself to soothe their daughter's discomfort. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">But Jaina's distress evaporated quickly, and
Leia's eyes flew open to see Han gently massaging her back. Her frown melted
into a smile as her heart filled with tenderness. Despite his difficult youth,
Han was a terrific father. More than once he'd told Leia that he wanted to give
their kids all the “good stuff” he never had, and she knew that he was
referring to love and time rather than toys. Not that Han didn't enjoy the
toys. Many evenings upon arriving home, he would join the kids in whatever they
were playing, whether it was Jedi Jeopardy, which he usually lost, or sabacc,
where they competed for sweets, or some game of pretend in which he might end
up dressed as a sparkly krayt dragon with a pink cape. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia suppressed the urge to laugh as she
remembered Han’s latest caper with the kids. While she’d been at a conference
one weekend, the four of them had set up a convoluted Pita-feeding contraption
stretching from the kitchen counter, through the dining room and living area,
and back to the kitchen. Seemingly random items had been employed in creative
manners, including the blender, a smashball, a mini-racetrack, copious amounts
of spacer tape, extra Falcon parts, and one of Han's boots. When Leia arrived
home, she’d immediately spotted their “invention” as well as the pitten food
splattered all over the floor. She had rolled her eyes and was about to tell
them to clean it up when Jacen greeted her with his excited appraisal: “The
best part is that it almost works!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Another moment of silence passed. Han, still
rubbing Jaina’s back, mumbled, “I think we’re in the clear.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Again, Leia connected with their children’s
minds, first Jaina’s, then Jacen’s and Anakin’s. Their tranquility washed into
her awareness, and she looked toward Han. “Yes. We’re good to go, Captain,” she
whispered. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I got the magic touch, Sweetheart,” Han
replied as he slowly pulled his arms back and stood.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“You certainly have a way with them,” Leia
remarked softly, nodding toward the three sleepers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han stepped toward her, and she tipped her
face up, unable to see his features in the darkened room. But she felt his
tender touch when he placed his large hands on her shoulders. Deft fingers
caressed her skin as he moved one hand to her neck, his thumb grazing her
collarbone. She felt her body respond to his touch, and tilted her head to the
side, inviting further exploration. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han chuckled, then leaned down and rumbled in
her ear. “So what’ll it be, Your Highness? The pullout or the floor?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Mmm…” Leia began with eyes closed, lost in
the sensation of his gentle ministrations. Then he kissed a sensitive spot just
behind her earlobe, and her breath hitched as his teasing lips traveled to her
neck. “I would say ‘neither,’’ she continued in a halting whisper, “but our
bed... has been invaded. A retreat is necess…” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Speech became impossible as Han descended on
her lips. Their kiss deepened, and Leia became vaguely aware that her hand had
somehow found refuge in his hair, while his had slipped under her shirt,
caressing her lower back. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han's gentle pressure pushed her backward, as
she pulled him with her until the squeak of overused mattress springs caught
her attention. Leia opened her eyes and realized she was lying on the pullout
bed, her legs dangling off the edge. She yearned to wrap them around her
strapping husband, who at present lay partially on top of her, leaning on his
elbows, his fingers laced in her hair and thumbs caressing her temples. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">The decision was made. Not that it mattered.
Leia could sleep with Han anywhere, and had.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Images of the unorthodox sleeping arrangements
they had endured during the Rebellion came to mind. They’d certainly slept in some
less-than-ideal places, and any surface in this room, even the closet floor or
the cold fresher tiles, would surpass every one of those. Tents and sleeping
bags had been five star hotels compared to nights spent in a cold, muddy ditch,
a large hollow tree, or a cave in a rockface just big enough for the two of
them. There’d also been the night they’d spent in the Falcon’s smuggling
compartment—indoors, but rather uncomfortable. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Despite the challenges of resting in such
environments, they all had a singular advantage, which at the time Leia had
vehemently denied, yet secretly desired: the necessity of sleeping with Han.
Even during their earliest missions together, she had felt safe with Han, and
cared for. A happy warmth spread through her body as she remembered curling up
next to the man she would eventually marry, his arms around her, his breath in
her hair, his lips on her forehead. Those pre-dawn forehead kisses—the ones he
bestowed upon her when neither was fully awake—she had relished, often allowing
herself to remain in his arms, pretending to doze, simply so the kisses might
continue. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">As if he had read her thoughts, Han kissed her
lightly, his soft lips just grazing hers. Leia lifted her chin for another
kiss, but he pulled away. Confused, she shivered, already missing the warmth of
his body against hers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Han…” she whispered, sliding herself fully
onto the small bed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Hold your tauntauns, Sweetheart. We’re
forgettin’ something.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Before she could utter a retort, thick soft
material covered her body, and Leia felt the warmth of her husband as he
crawled under the blanket. In a practiced move, she lifted her head as he
extended his arm under her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. He ran a
finger along her cheek. “Better?” he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Much,” she whispered, stretching a leg across
his and placing her hand on his bare, well-toned chest. She splayed her
fingers, enjoying the sensation of his skin and his taut muscles under her
fingertips.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Then she realized that something was missing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Han, where’s your shirt?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Under my head. Kids have death-grips on all
the pillows an’ the hotel didn’t have extra.” Leia felt his body stiffen and
cool air on her skin as he began to move away from her. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“What are you doing?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han placed a hand on her cheek, then tucked a
loose lock of hair behind her ear. “Gettin’ something for your pretty head.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia knew that he wouldn’t chance waking
anybody by prying a desired object from Force-sensitive hands, and lack of a
pillow was not her concern anyway. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“Oh, Han… No,” she whispered, pulling him back
to her and nestling into his arms again. “I just need you.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han chuckled. “You need me. I’ve got a good
feeling about this.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia grinned into Han’s chest as she inhaled
his musky scent. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good feeling, indeed</i>,
she thought. And Han was right. She did need him. In the aftermath of
Alderaan’s destruction, she hadn’t expected to find happiness, and now, even
after ten years of marriage, their shared story still amazed her. Fighting
side-by-side, albeit reluctantly at first, they had escaped the Death Star, had
fallen in love on a Goddess-forsaken iceball in the middle of a war, had
survived and won that war, and now were raising their three children. Together,
they had accomplished what many would have deemed impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Leia raised her head and drew closer to her
husband’s handsome face. “I love you,” she murmured, her lips centims from his.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">“I know.” Han paused. “I love you too.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: red;">THE END</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">The
greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Moulin Rouge</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN">Never
tell me the odds.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Han Solo</span></div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-17168584731355563322019-01-20T18:52:00.000-06:002019-01-20T18:52:24.970-06:00Holiday Challenge Submission from Zyra<i>Well, I suppose it's my turn, since we haven't gotten much action here. No tropes really here, just doing something a little holiday-themed. Enjoy!</i><br />
<br />
<br />
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As she boiled the water for hot chocolate, Leia Solo thought
fondly back to how her husband Han had appeared when she had met him. He would
have been the first to tell you that he was loyal to nothing and nobody but
himself; bu it hadn’t taken her very long to see that was completely untrue.
And it only took her slightly longer to discover that in fact, the exact opposite
was true. He was perhaps one of the most loyal men she had ever met. It just
happened that he was picky about who he was loyal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to</i>. </div>
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<br /></div>
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All you really needed to do was see how he felt about his ship
to come to this conclusion. It was old, rickety, beat up, and it didn’t even
always work right. But if for even one second you tried to suggest that maybe
he would be better off starting with a new one he would be personally insulted.
That ship was his baby. Well, his first baby, she supposed. It wasn’t just a
ship to him; it had a history, and was full of not just memories but his actual
blood, sweat and tears. Things like that could not be thrown away and replaced,
even if they were shinier and newer and actually worked every time you needed
them to. This knowledge had been comforting for her to think about when she
imagined how he might feel about her as she got older and more worn out. </div>
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<br /></div>
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His loyalty was certainly not limited to just his ship. It
was quite obvious from early on how loyal he was to Chewbacca. Sure, he would
often act annoyed that the Wookiee had insisted that he tag along and wouldn’t
leave him alone and was so damn annoying by hovering over him all the time. But
his act hardly fooled anyone. Han was almost as protective of Chewie as Chewie was
of Han. The two were as close as brothers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If all of that hadn’t been enough to blow his cover, then
certainly how he had almost immediately come back to help Luke and the Rebels had
taken care of it. She sometimes had to fight herself from rubbing it in his
face, and instead opted simply for gratitude. She had then denied for years
that any of his loyalty had been directed at her, but certainly it hadn’t taken
very long to be forced to accept it as well. And now, nearly twenty years after
that incident, she was eternally grateful for it. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Aside from just loyalty, it was also very apparent just how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">attached</i> he became to those closest to
him. She first noticed it with Chewie, but then it became obvious that he was
also fairly attached to Luke. Reluctantly she was finally forced to come to
terms with how attached he had become to her. Now this was something she
cherished about him as she had become completely attached to him as well, but
for a time it had been downright terrifying to realize. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And now, he was quite attached to their children. She hadn’t
expected him not to be, but seeing how Han behaved around them, and the way his
face lit up when he saw them and when they saw him, and how much he loved them
and loved spending time with them had only further cemented how glad she was that
she had taken that chance with him. The kids had brought them so much happiness
over the years, and she and Han could not imagine life without them.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps this was why over the last few days Han had been
spending so much time moping. Han Solo wasn’t generally one to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mope,</i> of all things. But the new year
was approaching, which had traditionally been more of a family affair. The kids
were all teenagers now, and Leia had taken her time coming clean and telling
Han that they would not be home in time to celebrate with their parents. He
acted as though it was no big deal, but she could tell how disappointed he was.
He seemed to be taking their growing up harder than she was. Perhaps because it
had taken him so long to find a family in the first place, he was less willing
to let things change and move forward. In some of his darker moments, on the
rare occasions he still had nightmares, she was aware that one of his biggest
fears was having those kids taken away from him. He was still adjusting to the
idea that he would not always be there to see to their safety.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And sure, they enjoyed the time alone at first. There were
some perks to having the house to themselves. But as much as Han and Leia
enjoyed each other’s company, and the luxuries that time alone had afforded
them, there were still a lot more hours in the day to fill, and the quiet of a
near-empty apartment had worn on both of them. Especially at this time of year.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It could’ve been easy for Leia to take this personally, to
think that she wouldn’t be enough for him once the kids had moved out. But she
wasn’t worried about that. Not really. If there was anything in this galaxy she
could rely on completely it was Han’s love and devotion to her. She knew they
would figure it out. And she also looked forward to some years down the line
when their children would bless them with grandchildren. Not to mention she was
pretty sure that wherever their kids ended up, they would still make time to
visit. The attachment certainly didn’t only work in one direction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
None of this would be comforting to Han right now though. He
was much more concerned with the present, and presently all he could think
about was that his kids were slipping away from them and there was nothing he
could do to stop it. Leia felt a little pang of guilt as she felt his
disappointment. Soon, she thought. He would feel a lot better soon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sun had just gone down Han had been busying himself by polishing
his boots, seated on the couch in the living room of their apartment. He seemed
to always gravitate to the most tedious of tasks when he needed to distract
himself. Leia approached him with a warm mug of hot chocolate, hoping to cheer
him up just a little bit. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I think you shined them up enough,” Leia said, glancing
down at the now-immaculate boots in his hands. He’d been at it for at least
three times as long as he needed to be. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He hadn’t even noticed her coming as she approached from
behind him and slid to sit next to him on the couch and placed the mug in front
of him, holding onto her own. “I thought you might like this.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He gave her a half-hearted smile. “Thanks.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leia rested her head against his shoulder and waited a
moment to see if he might say anything else, then told him, “I miss them, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I know,” he said as he leaned his head against hers. “You
aren’t gonna leave me too, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She shook her head and then leaned away to look into his
eyes. “Never.” After sharing a brief kiss she leaned back to take another sip
of her hot chocolate. “You know, we should probably make dinner soon.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I s’pose. You bought an awful lot
of food considering it’s just the two of us this year.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You think so? You never know who might drop by.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I thought the Skywalker clan was doing their own thing?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“They are, but-“</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally she was cut off by the sound of the door opening,
and three very familiar voices filled the air. Han was startled at first and
Leia could see his face turn from confusion to pure joy as he watched Jacen,
Jaina and Anakin come through the doorway. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“He looks surprised,” Jacen said. “Did you actually manage
to keep it a secret?” Jacen said to his mother. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leia gave a small smile and Han looked at her in disbelief. “You
knew about this?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Of course I knew. They couldn’t surprise me even if they
wanted to,” she said, reminding him that with her Force abilities she would
always know if they were nearby. There were times when he found this fact more than
a little unfair, but right now, he seemed to happy to care. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Han stood and walked towards his children. “Well, don’t just
stand there, come give your old dad a hug.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The three young Solos all smiled and went to hug their father.
They’d only been gone a couple of weeks, but Han still wasn’t used to these
more lengthy absences. He vastly preferred having his entire family under one
roof. Leia had to admit that she did too, but it was just a fact of life that
children grew up and moved onto their own lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Each of the kids went to hug Leia as well and Han still
looked stunned in disbelief. “Now you know why I got all that food,” she said
to her husband. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Did you say food? ‘Cause I’m starving,” Anakin said. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We didn’t make dinner yet, but there are plenty of snacks,”
Leia said as her youngest son smiled and headed straight for the kitchen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m going to drop my stuff in my room and change clothes,”
Jaina said as she headed back down the hallway. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Me, too,” Jacen added as he followed behind her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Han was still standing in front of the couch, a satisfied
grin on his face. Leia slipped her arms around his mid section and gave him a
squeeze. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. They wanted to surprise you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His arms enveloped her and he held her close. “And you just
let me spend all day being miserable?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You mad?” she asked, already knowing the answer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No,” he replied, kissing the top of her head. “But don’t do
that to me again.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I won’t,” she said, giving him one more squeeze and then
leaning away to look up at him. “Should we get started on dinner?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We better, or Anakin might eat everything before we get to
it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leia smiled and took his hand before leading him back to the
kitchen. He certainly appeared a lot more enthusiastic about the evening than
he had a few minutes ago. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Leia had to admit, so was she. They both knew that these
days would not last forever, but they would certainly enjoy them while they
could.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-37247527527274346492019-01-11T11:44:00.001-06:002019-01-11T11:44:43.309-06:00First Holiday Challenge Response from Scruffy's SweetheartHey, guys, we have our first challenge response! Follow the link <a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13025369/2/Round-Midnight" target="_blank">HERE</a> and that will take you directly to chapter 2 which is for the challenge, but of course I would recommend you also go back and read chapter 1. This one isn't really holiday related but covers a lot of good tropes! Is trip to Bespin considered a trope in this fandom in and of itself? I think probably. Enjoy!Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-63767513198028501122018-12-04T14:49:00.002-06:002018-12-04T14:49:58.002-06:00Let's Have a Holiday Challenge!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjfvm6i0WBt-RAFbI4H7bp6BhR9aS84FEET7t8WHjOebbTuIdOhUBmXAioL4ix8UNqXabqdtsGNcpsPVvQxAj9VAHyDPLKWUgeXhut_BxDQz0V5ANNDggy4iBjGdq95lwGVolBbkqCmpx/s1600/hc+press+conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="426" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjfvm6i0WBt-RAFbI4H7bp6BhR9aS84FEET7t8WHjOebbTuIdOhUBmXAioL4ix8UNqXabqdtsGNcpsPVvQxAj9VAHyDPLKWUgeXhut_BxDQz0V5ANNDggy4iBjGdq95lwGVolBbkqCmpx/s400/hc+press+conference.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
So, hi? This is definitely by far the longest I've gone without posting anything. And someone gently reminded me that by not updating the blog, every time you look in here you were forced to look at a big photo of fake Han Solo, and we really can't have that.<br />
<br />
So, the reason for this post is basically a ploy to get people writing! And what better way than to offer a challenge! We can call it the holiday challenge, however this does not mean that your story has to have anything to do with actual holidays.<br />
<br />
Then, what are the rules of the challenge? Um, I guess the biggest rule is just: have fun! Too many rules. But, well, how about some general guidelines? Yeah, let's start there.<br />
<br />
1. Fic should be submitted sometime between the moment this post goes up, and, um, Valentine's Day? That seems like a reasonable length of time. January would be awesome, but do not fret about being "late." I mean honestly, if you want to answer a challenge from 2012, go right ahead. There is always room for more.<br />
<br />
2. Ok, so some prompts for those who like prompts:<br />
<ul>
<li>A story related to holidays/gifts </li>
<li>A story that includes your favorite trope. Or multiple tropes. Challenge yourself to include as many tropes as possible.</li>
<li>A story relating to snow</li>
<li>A story that includes food</li>
<li>Maybe some other prompt to be named later if someone has a good idea. </li>
</ul>
3. For this particular challenge my main request is that we are writing Han and Leia as two people who love each other (or are going to, if you choose to write something in the pre-ESB era) and who will <i>not </i>be torn apart by an evil son. This is a Ben-Solo-free zone.<br />
<br />
4. Stories will be posted here as they are submitted, unless the author requests otherwise. Or if you prefer to just post it on whatever site you like to do your posting, it's really up to you.<br />
<br />
5. Make sure you are submitting a final draft of your story to me and take care of all editing.<br />
<br />
6. Have fun!Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-16037112249537527072018-05-25T10:33:00.001-05:002018-05-25T10:33:11.507-05:00Solo: A Star Wars Story - The Review. SPOILERS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke3VKQReciQMnJSbgqA3BWU_RL_DMVwafsUP-8lm38Gjlels4PUsppq19KLZB97IjpqXUA4gXY7m6sJxvhhmCdmdVo57Ou_koXQcm51f6Yo6JkEHAJdXn5CwfL9qmGwCWoMYvz8cMYQME/s1600/https+_blogs-images.forbes.com_markhughes_files_2018_05_SOLO-STAR-WARS-STORY-poster-10-203x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1419" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgke3VKQReciQMnJSbgqA3BWU_RL_DMVwafsUP-8lm38Gjlels4PUsppq19KLZB97IjpqXUA4gXY7m6sJxvhhmCdmdVo57Ou_koXQcm51f6Yo6JkEHAJdXn5CwfL9qmGwCWoMYvz8cMYQME/s400/https+_blogs-images.forbes.com_markhughes_files_2018_05_SOLO-STAR-WARS-STORY-poster-10-203x300.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>
Here we are finally with our second "stand alone" Star Wars movie. I feel it is only fair to preface this by saying that from the moment this movie was announced, I thought... WHY? First and most importantly, because nobody can or should replace Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Second, because I think it takes something away from the character if we know too much as far as specifics of his background. I don't NEED to know his back story, or why he is cynical. Like... I never watched ANH and wondered, gee, why so cynical, Han? Nope, I didn't wonder that any more than I wondered why Luke was so innocent or why Leia was so self assured. They just... are.<br />
<br />
My fears only magnified as things progressed, and more new Star Wars movies kept coming out, because they only seem to know how to retroactively make things worse for all of our heroes, so my assumption was that this would be no different. Especially once I learned they were giving him a real love interest, rather than maybe a random girlfriend or two (or more), given how they have treated Han and Leia to this point, I only assumed that they would again somehow try to use this as a way to twist the knife in my back even more. So now that we know what I was thinking before, let's get to the review.<br />
<br />
We begin on Corellia. Again it is so odd to have a Star Wars movie that begins without the infamous crawl, but instead there was an intro that just came across in the same font as the "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." which they also showed, they explained how Corellia is all full of crime and how all these children are forced to steal and whatever. They seemed to like borrowing some things from other versions of Han's back story while choosing to change others. So then we meet Han, who steals a speeder and drives it back to I guess the lair where all of the other children who are forced into crime are. Oh and right away we get our first sighting of the infamous dice, which for something that I, as a lifelong Star Wars fan who had seen the movies dozens of times over the course of my entire life have only consciously noticed in ANH maybe twice, are suddenly now like the most important thing in the universe to Han for some reason. I guess Han is supposed to be pretty young still here but it's sort of weird because he looks like an adult, and we see a bunch of little kids bringing in whatever they stole.<br />
<br />
Han comes back with something that is apparently worth a whole lot of credits so that he and his girlfriend Qi'ra can buy a ship and finally get away from Corellia. How do we know she is his girlfriend? Because he kisses her within like a minute of them being on screen together. Right away I felt like I was tossed into the middle of a story, which I guess can kind of work sometimes, but I just didn't feel like it worked well here. I have no idea how long these two have been together or what kind of relationship they have aside from the fact that apparently they kiss and have talked about leaving.<br />
<br />
So after they kiss a second time, just to make sure the audience knows that these two are boyfriend and girlfriend, Han is brought in before Lady Proxima, who is basically a giant lizard lady who lives in a small pool of water and for some reason is in charge of this crime syndicate of enslaving runaway children to steal for her. So like I guess that makes it different from the EU, because it's not Garris Shrike, it's a girl this time. And a lizard. But other than that it seems basically the same, and Han is beaten a little while Qi'ra watches for some reason (probably, again, to show the audience that she cares about him and doesn't like seeing him beaten) and they manage to escape into their speeder and there is a chase that we don't really care about that much as they head for this transport to get out.<br />
<br />
As they are evading Imperials among the people walking around, Han hands Qi'ra those dice... for some reason. We don't really know why, she just kind of smiles at him. They get separated though as Qi'ra gets taken and Han can't get to her and he basically loses it, although, again, at this point we really have absolutely no idea how long these two have known each other and I didn't really feel much for Han when she was taken away. Han is understandably nervous as he still fears being apprehended but fortunately he spots where he can go and join the Imperial Academy because he wants to be a pilot, but also, mostly, because he just doesn't want to be captured. This was a change from Han's old back story where it is a more conscious decision for him to join up rather than a spur of the moment decision, and I'm not a fan of this change, but whatever.<br />
<br />
Of course the more annoying thing that happens here is that when Han is giving the guy his name he just says his first name and the guy is like, "Who are your people?" And Han just stares at him blankly and the guy is like, ok, Solo. So that's how he gets his last name, in the dumbest fashion ever even though nobody really ever questioned why his last name was Solo. Not to mention the fact that it doesn't make any sense that he would keep such a name given to him by an Imperial officer. But at this point their "logic" is so faulty you are a lot more willing to just roll your eyes and let this stuff go. Because seriously, I never wondered about where his last name came from.<br />
<br />
We immediately cut to 3 years later and Han is in some sort of ground war that resembles World War II, which is sort of weird because given the technology of Star Wars, it just seems odd that any of this fighting would happen as ground combat, but whatever. But it is here that we meet Woody Harrelson's character Beckett and his girlfriend Val. I should tell you right away, if you were excited for another female character, and finally a woman of color, do not get too attached to Val. They are in Imperial armor as well but Han realizes pretty quickly that something is off and they stole the armor, and for reasons I definitely do not understand this makes him assume that they would be a good choice to help him get off this planet and go be a pilot like he wants to. Before that though Han has to mouth off a bit to his lead officer after he says they need to take out the hostiles, and Han reminds him that this is their planet and the Imperials in this case are the hostiles. I guess it took him THREE YEARS of being an Imp to notice or say anything? I don't quite follow.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Han proposes his idea to Beckett, who doesn't like that idea and instead gets Han turned over for desertion and he gets taken away so he can be fed to "the beast." Here is another predictable moment where I immediately guessed who the beast was probably going to be. So Han gets dropped down into this caged in pit and is attached at the ankle to whatever this beast is. The beast wanders out of the shadows and.... of course it is Chewie! Yay! Except maybe not so much yay, because as was mentioned, Han is down there to feed him since he apparently hasn't eaten in a few days. I should also note, I have no idea if Chewie had any other purpose than to remain chained up and occasionally eat insubordinate soldiers. So now of course Han and Chewie are battling, Han is trying not to get eaten, and just before Chewie drowns Han in mud Han says something to Chewie in Shriiwook. Because how convenient that he can already speak it for some unknown reason!<br />
<br />
So instead of being eaten, the two escape together. This is maybe the back story change that I disliked the most, and the one that comes closest to actually making me mad. In the old version, Han frees Chewie from slavery because he finds slavery appalling, and that defiance is what gets him kicked out of the Academy. It is also what leads to Chewie's life debt to him and why he stays with him all those years. In this version he doesn't so much save him as use him as a means to not die himself and then kind of gets stuck with him, and then Chewie stays with him for pretty much no reason at all. It should also be noted that there is a moment in the trailer where Chewie affectionately leans in and presses his forehead to that of another Wookiee, which I think made most of us assume that it was maybe Chewie's wife or something. But turns out, nope, just a random Wookiee later on.<br />
<br />
So Han and Chewie are still attached and Han tries to flag down the departing ship of Beckett and his crew because I guess they're friends now because they interacted for 10 seconds before Beckett turned Han in as a traitor. But John Favreau's wise-cracking alien pilot character Rio Durant seems to think it would be good to have some extra muscle, so they go back and pick them up. Which then leads us to the scene that we never thought we'd get to see, Han Solo naked in the shower. And then Chewie joins him. Ok, I admit, that was legitimately funny. And there were for sure a few moments in this movie I genuinely laughed, but it doesn't make up for the rest of it.<br />
<br />
Eventually our new crew here has some quiet time and there is some talk about how Han is doing what he is doing for a girl, so he is still thinking about Qi'ra. But more importantly for now, they all need to go deal with this train heist thing for some reason that escapes me. So this leads us to a long action sequence of our new little band of criminals trying to steal stuff from a train. This scene is ok I guess, but I should note that at this point in the movie I was incredibly bored and had no idea what really we were supposed to want to see happen. This was an action sequence for the sake of having an action sequence. And like, cool train I guess, but ultimately, whatever.<br />
<br />
The heist does not go exactly as planned because they are attacked by Enfys Nest and his crew. We know Enfys is a bad guy because his helmet/face mask are "evil" looking. I'm so glad that Star Wars makes everything so black and white for us in this regard. Other than that, I have no idea who these guys are or if it was ever explained. So this whole plan kind of goes to crap and Rio is trying to bring the ship in to help them but he gets shot and isn't doing so well. But hey, good news that Han finally gets to show off his pilot skills as he hops in to take over just before Rio dies. So, I hope you weren't too attached to Rio either. Val had been waiting to blow up a section of the bridge to take out the rest of the train and the ship was then going to take away the one train car that had the hyperfuel on it (apparently we're supposed to care a lot about hyperfuel - at least I think that was what was on it, honestly I'm not positive on that). Because the plan is going so badly she finally blows the bridge when she is still on it and she dies. I honestly am not sure what the successful version of this plan was supposed to look like.<br />
<br />
Beckett and Chewie manage to get back on the ship with Han and they have their haul but Nest's team gets some cables on it and they try to steal it too. Beckett tells Han not to let go as they are heading toward a mountain, but Han finally lets it go before they crash, Nest's crew can't support the weight of the car themselves on their speeder-bike-like vehicles and they lose the cargo which then causes an incredible explosion that basically destroys the mountain. Beckett is none too thrilled with Han about that and is already in a pretty bad place because his girlfriend is dead. Conversations are had though and Han and Chewie decide to continue to stick with Beckett.<br />
<br />
I should note that at this point in the movie, every scene so far just seems exceptionally dark. And I don't mean tone-wise, I mean like you want someone to turn up the lights because it's just plain hard to see. <br />
<br />
So now they have to go and confess that they did not complete their little mission and must visit Dryden Vos who is the leader of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. You will remember that name because I swear they say the words Crimson Dawn at least a dozen times throughout the movie. And I swear it sounds really familiar but the only thing I can think of that it might be reminding me of is that part in Die Hard when Hans Gruber is asking for random people to be released to meet his random demands and he mentions Asian Dawn. For real, I was like, we get it, you're Crimson Dawn. But that's not the most important thing here. No, the most important thing is what an unbelievable coincidence it is that when they go to meet him, who do they see at this party but Qi'ra! Seriously, the galaxy is practically infinite, and Han just happened to totally randomly connect with this dude who just happens to work for a guy who has been with Qi'ra for a while.<br />
<br />
There whole reuniting here is just odd. Han is of course thrilled to see her since basically everything he has done recently has been so that he could go back to Corellia and get her. While she seems to be more like, "Oh, cool, hi." Uh... ok. Then they just start totally casually talking like nothing is weird at all about this. So then we go and meet Dryden Vos who really would rather just kill them for not completing their mission but instead decides to let them attempt to redeem themselves, but definitely for sure if they don't complete THIS mission he will totally kill them. Also during this it seems apparent that Dryden and Qi'ra are "together." But it's definitely a creepy sort of thing and you can tell that Qi'ra isn't really happy about it, but she has a marking on her wrist that matches the symbol on a ring that Vos wears. But also for some strange reason Vos sends Qi'ra with them.<br />
<br />
So, they need to go to... Kessel! And in order to do so, they need a fast ship. Good news, because Qi'ra knows someone. If you guessed that someone is Lando, you're right. So this is one of the few bright spots of this whole thing. Donald Glover makes an excellent young Lando, and from the time he was announced I was like... ok, so maybe not EVERYTHING about this movie will be terrible. I think he manages to just slip into the Lando persona without just doing an awkward impersonation of Billy Dee Williams. He has the confidence and the charisma and I would probably sign up for more Lando movies. Han joins in on Lando's sabacc (which they say differently than I've been reading it in my head for over 20 years, but I'll get over it) although I was a little confused because I seem to recall that there was sort of a digital element to it that would change the cards in your hand, and now it just seems like regular cards. We get to the big hand at the end and are betting ships and, well, Han loses. And he loses a fake ship he never actually had. Oops.<br />
<br />
Anyway, instead of taking the ship for themselves they just sign Lando onto their crew and promise him a percentage of the take. Well, that was an easy problem to fix as well. Then we meet Lando's droid L3-37, who is an outspoken droid, and a female voiced one, who wants equal rights for all droids. She added a fair bit of humor to this that certainly was enjoyable at times, I do admit. So then we finally go and see the Millennium Falcon for the first time. This was also the first time I actually kind of noticed the score since it hearkens back to the original Star Wars score. This happened maybe two more times and other than that, the score was remarkably underwhelming. Han, you can tell, is immediately in love. At some point on this trip over Han and Qi'ra share a moment in Lando's cape closet. She is trying some on, and they both decide that maybe Lando has too many capes. They kiss a couple of times, again to remind us that they should totally be together in spite of their staggering lack of chemistry. Han wants to know what has been happening with her all this time, and she says she doesn't want to tell him because he would never look at her the same way again. We never do find out what exactly she has been up to that whole time.<br />
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So, now to get to Kessel and steal these um... again I think hyperfuel, but it was expensive and explosive which is the most important thing to know. On the way there of course we learn about how to navigate it and whatever. We also get a brief moment between Qi'ra and L3-37 where the droid says how she can tell that Han is in love with her, and Qi'ra says how it won't work. And then L3 says she gets it, because she can tell that Lando totally loves her but she knows that won't work either. If any of you have seen the thing going around about how Lando wants to have sex with a droid, I assume this is where that comes from, but to me it just feels like a funny joke.<br />
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Oh and also on this trip Han and Lando share a brief exchange where Han mentions that his father used to build YT-1300s and Lando asks if he was close with his dad and Han says, "Not really." So, now we are adding more confusion because it seems maybe Han did have a family, and he remembers them, and something happened. So did he have a last name or what? Did he run away or was he taken or did his parents die? We have absolutely no idea. <br />
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So we arrive on Kessel and the plan is that Qi'ra pretends that Han and Chewie are new slaves to give to them and then they all try and take over the place. Little Easter egg here where Beckett is wearing the bounty hunter disguise that Lando wears in ROTJ. So I guess that outfit just lives in the Falcon forever for all those occasions you need to dress up as a bounty hunter. Qi'ra hands Han back those dice during this scene, which we are still not given any sort of context for. During this whole thing we have a few random moments. Han and Chewie escape and Han is now in disguise, Chewie gets distracted when he sees Wookiee slaves and decides he needs to go and free them. Han doesn't go with him, so again they are really kind of changing how Han feels about slavery in general here. He isn't sure if Chewie will be coming back. L3 also frees a droid from its restraining bolt, mostly to get it away from the control panel she wants to use and she kind of off-handedly tells it to go free everyone else, so mass chaos erupts as the droids basically revolt, and then they free the human slaves as well and everything is kind of a mess now.<br />
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Chewie manages to free the Wookiees and eventually they do make it back to the ship but not before Lando takes a blaster to the arm and L3 gets mortally wounded, so Lando is very sad about that and carries her upper half with him as Chewie carries him back to the ship and they escape. But hey, good news you guys, since Lando is wounded, that means Han gets to show off his piloting skills! It should be noted that at this point we don't really know if Han has spent much time at all actually piloting. But hey, it is the new thing in Star Wars that people are just innately talented at things and don't really have to practice or learn new skills. So these explosive canisters they have stolen are highly volatile and must be processed within a very short time of being taken, so they need to go to a nearby planet but of course time is very short. So short, in fact, that it is basically impossible for them to do it, because as Lando says here, "Nobody has ever made the Kessel run in less than 20 parsecs." So, you guys, Han makes his famed less than 12 parsecs Kessel run the very first time he flies the Falcon. Because we are probably two thirds of the way through this movie and we must explain every little thing so it has to happen now or never.<br />
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They make it out and to this planet to process this stuff so it doesn't explode. Han and Lando share a brief exchange where Lando says, "I hate you," and Han says, "I know." So, that was the only reference to that, and that I can deal with. Although because of the timing and stuff I don't think anyone picks up on the REAL joke there, because everyone just laughs immediately after Lando says he hates Han. But then Enfys Nest shows up again. How or why? No idea. Han seems to think that they can fool them into thinking that they have a bunch of backup on the Falcon, but just as Han finishes telling them about this, Lando and the Falcon take off and leave them behind.<br />
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Well, then we learn that Enfys is... a young girl. This is I guess supposed to be a pretty big reveal, because even as of now there is no actor listed on IMDB for that character. I don't really know why she is a young girl. But anyway, turns out she is basically trying to help the Rebellion and they all decide that they should work together and they devise a plan. Beckett decides that he doesn't really want a part of this anymore and he leaves, so Han and Qi'ra and Chewie go back to see Dryden Vos so that he can make good on that whole not killing them thing, and even pay them. They tell him that Beckett is dead. Vos though realizes that what they have brought him back is fake (we as an audience are not aware that their plan was to bring back a fake, we don't know until he points it out) and he is, well, REALLY mad. Han thinks that Qi'ra betrayed them, but Vos points out that it wasn't her, and he is especially unhappy that she was in on this because it means she was on Han's side. Nope, we find out Beckett had turned them in and he reminds him that he already told him never to trust anyone. I should also point out again that there is a moment here with Vos and Qi'ra that is just weird and creepy and you don't really know what is going on between them. Just the way he puts his hand on her neck in what in another context might be considered affectionate but considering the look on Qi'ra's face and how uncomfortable she is, it definitely does not come off as affectionate.<br />
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Of course massive fighting ensues and Qi'ra winds up killing Vos. Han and Qi'ra are so happy now and she says that he can go ahead and she will just stay behind and grab these expensive jewels that are conveniently strewn about the room so they can use those to pay for their new ship and leave. So Han leaves but instead of grabbing the jewels, Qi'ra contacts someone through holocall (is that what we call this?) and we don't really know who it is at first, we just know that he is evil because of the deep voice and the hood he is wearing. Except then he takes off the hood and we see it is... Darth Maul! And I swear people by this point are probably so far removed that they don't even remember that he was sliced in half at the end of TPM. It should also be noted that when discussing the movie afterward, my brother was also sort of confused on the timeline and thought that maybe this lined up with the prequels before he died, except for that to be true, Han would be older than Leia's father. So, no to that.<br />
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More importantly at this point, I need to talk about how I have no idea what is going on with Qi'ra. It's all incredibly unclear. She is clearly very uncomfortable with Vos, even though it is pointed out that she is "committed" to him because of the marking on her wrist/ ring thing. But I have absolutely no idea if this was a situation she was forced into, or if this was like, her long-term plan to just go along with him as a way to secure her place with Maul later on after she betrayed Vos. Really, it is incredibly confusing. She also seems to have very little personality other than the fact that she is the girl in the movie, which is also the only reason really that Han probably wants to be with her so badly.<br />
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Han has one more final confrontation with Beckett where he "shoots first" and kills him, because he for sure would've killed him if he had the chance. Han assumes at this point that he will now go back to Qi'ra but then he sees her take off on her ship and leave him as she looks at him sadly. Again, I'm very unclear on her feelings about him here. Mostly she doesn't seem that into him. But she's still kind of sad to be leaving. But again I don't know if this was her grand scheme or if she feels like she has to do this or what?<br />
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I should also note that at this point in the movie I was like... ok but what is the END? And when? First I believe there was one last conversation with Enfys where she asks if Han wants to come with her to join the Rebellion because they need leaders and heroes and Han is like, no thanks. And she says maybe someday he'll change his mind and he says, "Don't hold your breath." FINALLY though we go find Lando again and Han wants to play sabacc with him again. I forgot to mention earlier that Han noticed that Lando had cheated at their last game, but he never said anything about it. Well, this time he knows how he cheated and when he greets him he is able to steal Lando's cheat card and Han is the one who cheats and wins the Falcon and he and Chewie fly off into the sunset, with those stupid dice hanging up in the cockpit. Is this the "after what you pulled" that Lando is talking about in ESB? Maybe? Oh and Han is heading for Tatooine to start working for Jabba because Beckett had mentioned him earlier. And FINALLY the movie is over.<br />
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Phew, ok. So, my overall impression was that I was pretty bored much of the time. And there was sort of an underlying plot in there, but not really. It's like they had a checklist of things they wanted/needed to cram into this movie and contrived a plot to stick underneath it while making sure to hit the main points. The strange thing is, this movie "explained" a lot of things we never thought really needed explaining, (the name Solo, or the origin of the dice, which again hardly anyone knew existed until they decided to make them central to Han Solo's character to the point where I'm sure in any future releases of ESB and ROTJ they will digitally insert them because they were only actually in ANH) while at the same time not at all explaining the things that they said this movie would explain. Like... Han doesn't really change in this movie. To me, it doesn't in the slightest "explain" his cynicism in ANH. It's not like he was all that trusting early on in this movie. Qi'ra also at one point says how she is the only one who knows who he really is, which is "the good guy." Of course Han protests to this, but again, this is how ANH Han would've reacted as well. <br />
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It doesn't at all explain why Han might have dealt with Luke and Leia how he did when he met them. I don't know, it doesn't really give us much explanation at all for Han's personality. He already has it here when we meet him. The good news is that the thing I was most worried about, further undermining Han and Leia, is definitely not something I needed to be worried about. Their relationship here was forced and without chemistry. She doesn't even seem that into him. Yes, he seems to be doing everything he is doing basically FOR her, but I'm not sure how much that matters if she doesn't really reciprocate. I mean, I don't look at the guy and really think he's Han, but if I did, at some point I kind of wanted to hug him and be like, "It's ok, someday you're going to meet Leia and she is going to treat you right." They don't say I love you. There is for sure no implied sex in the movie, and they are ambiguously young when we meet them, and living in like, caves with a bunch of other kids so for all we know at this point, they never had sex in the first place and Han is still a virgin. We really have no idea.<br />
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I was really worried about the acting going in. Alden does... fine, I guess. I mean certainly there are times where it's like you can SEE him acting, and he doesn't seem to embody the character at all the way others do. Which is interesting to me because in the other movies so far, no matter how I felt with them, I have always felt like the casting was well done. But again this was an impossible task to start with, hard to embody a character that is totally someone else's persona already. Emilia Clarke, well, I don't know if it is her acting or just the lack of chemistry, but meh, I just didn't care about her that much. I did appreciate getting to see some different female outfits in the GFFA but that is about it there. Paul Bettany is kind of over the top as the villain here, and this is apparently going to be the summer of seeing Paul Bettany die a lot. Avengers: Infinity War spoiler: He dies TWICE in that. And once here. That is a lot of dying for one actor. But if you want creepy, well, he certainly gives you that.<br />
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Woody Harrelson, well, I have to say that I feel like he is the same in everything and no different here. Not very good. I don't get him. He felt out of place. Donald Glover as Lando, as I said, excellent.<br />
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I'm mostly just relieved that the things I thought would make me mad definitely did not. I spent a lot of time wondering when it was going to be over because they did not do a good job of making me care, and half the movie I couldn't even see because it was so dark. I definitely don't feel like this "romance" was portrayed in a way that made it seem like, more important than what Han has with Leia later. Although still, I don't know about the dice thing. Yes, they pass the dice back and forth. But I really don't know if we are supposed to be left thinking that to Han the dice represent Qi'ra or if they are just a random lucky charm that he happened to give her at one point and she gave back, or what.<br />
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This movie also reminded me how annoying it is that even though they have been given an infinite universe to play with, and infinite timelines, they choose to keep focusing on this very small part of it and fill in every little unnecessary gap for these people. This TYPE of movie probably could've been fun and interesting if they gave it its own story rather than just trying to stuff in all these references to things in Han's past. It's fun to get to see some new planets and some new costumes and some different environments. But it's all just lost in the fact that I just don't care that much what is going on.<br />
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Ok, so, mostly boring. A lot of eye rolling things like the last name thing. A lot of confusing and unexplained things like Qi'ra's motivation. And the only kind of maddening thing to me was taking away Han's pretty noble moment of freeing Chewie from slavery because he thinks it's wrong, and not just because he doesn't want the Wookiee to eat him. Alden didn't make me mad or anything, but I didn't feel like he was Han Solo. There were some genuinely funny moments, and you kind of want to just watch Lando do his thing a lot longer. Mostly I'm relieved that it didn't upset me or anger me and now we're left with a movie that would be difficult to sit through again just due to boredom, although admittedly I'd probably watch this again before I'd watch TLJ again.<br />
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I think that is finally it, but let me know what you think or if you have any questions about it!<br />
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<br />Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-8831575921136596232018-05-04T14:19:00.000-05:002018-05-04T14:19:02.860-05:00May the Fourth Be With You!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf38N-1AiB2r-ELDs4EeAuHrc-NmaVidI62DDCFb-TZAQkeHapmnrdaXedH8Gj2gVcWMEwgTAxjzDvVgYnCRt8z9YsEwuhfBVA5ru9pKJE3z6ScWBB7KttS5QeyQp4NwQcqnFcaXPnm-mW/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="800" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf38N-1AiB2r-ELDs4EeAuHrc-NmaVidI62DDCFb-TZAQkeHapmnrdaXedH8Gj2gVcWMEwgTAxjzDvVgYnCRt8z9YsEwuhfBVA5ru9pKJE3z6ScWBB7KttS5QeyQp4NwQcqnFcaXPnm-mW/s400/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Obligatory May the Fourth post! Star Wars day has gotten way, way bigger since I first realized it was a thing, which was probably the first May 4th we had once we created the blog. Nobody ever said anything about it before, and then suddenly now just about everyone, everywhere is talking about it or wearing their Star Wars t-shirts.<br />
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Like a lot of people in this fandom (and by "this" I mean Han and Leia more than just like, general Star Wars... although the general Star Wars fandom is actually in a similar place now) it's becoming more than a little bittersweet. The new stuff is trying to force out the old stuff. They're trying to sell merchandise with stupid Fauxlo on it instead of actual Harrison Ford, as though anyone wants that.<br />
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But, then again, here we all still are. Still writing our fanfic that flies in the face of all the garbage they are trying to tell us happened to our favorite characters. And that, my friends, is a good thing. A very good thing. There has been more great fanfic over the last couple of years since this fiasco started than there has been in a very long time. It's challenging to even keep up with.<br />
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And in three weeks, we will have the Solo movie that nobody wanted. And let me tell you, I think people still don't want it. I will be going to see it. Yes, I know, I totally know that it is ridiculous for someone so vocally and adamantly against this to be going to see it. It's become a family tradition, and we know I'll see it eventually anyway, so we are in the process of getting our tickets as I type this. The cool thing is... it's really easy to get tickets. We have bought tickets in advance for all the recent releases, and it was stressful every time. Trying to find tickets in general, or in the theaters with assigned seats trying to get seats together was challenging, to say the least. Currently there are plenty of tickets available everywhere. This makes me happy. I really hope this movie sucks and flops bigtime.<br />
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Anyway, May the Fourth be with you!Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-89213112394288572242018-04-15T19:59:00.002-05:002018-04-16T09:06:46.091-05:00Why We Should Never Publicly Bash Our Own WritingI drafted this post quite a while ago, but felt it was important to finally put it up.<br />
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Ok, so I think almost every fanfic writer I've ever interacted with or read anything from has times of insecurity or feeling inadequate about their writing. We've all written something and been less than proud of it, or gone back to old stories and wondered how we could possibly have ever written something so terrible. Or we'll read something from another author and think, wow, my work is so vastly inferior to this that I should just quit writing right this minute and never return because I can't possibly compare to that. This happens to most of us. Seriously, probably even that person whose writing you think is on a level you could never comprehend. Yes, that one. The good news is that it can often help us with our desire to learn and grow as writers. But there can be a downside to that as well.<br />
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Now, here is one thing I've seen, and been guilty of myself, and it is to announce either in a summary or an author's note that your story isn't very good. Don't do that! How does that inspire anyone to read your story? Let the reader decide whether they like it or not, don't decide that for them. If they don't like it, that's their decision, and hopefully they just keep it to themselves and move on and read something else. But hey, maybe someone out there might like it!<br />
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Which brings me to another point. By saying that your story is terrible, you're kind of insulting anyone out there who might have read it and liked it. Look, I myself have stories of mine that I'm not that proud of. The ones I wrote a long time ago, the ones that I'd probably do a George Lucas Special Edition on if I had the patience or desire. I cringe at some characterizations or scenes that I've written. But the thing is, someone out there liked every single one of them. I will still get a new favorite here or there or maybe even a review. And yes, part of me kind of cringes like, wow, you liked THAT one? But the thing about fanfic is that there is something for everyone. And at the time I wrote some of those stories, they were the kind of stories I wanted to see, and clearly someone else was interested enough to read them too. So why should I tell them my story is terrible and make them feel bad about liking it?<br />
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Another big problem with bashing your own writing is that someone somewhere has probably read what you've written and not only really likes it, but compares their own writing to it. They see what you wrote, and think, well, I could never write something that good. So then how do you suppose that person feels if not only do they already think your writing is way better than yours, but then they see that you are telling them that it is terrible? At that point that person probably wouldn't dream of trying to publish something if they think your writing is vastly superior to theirs, and you're now telling them that your writing is terrible. So how bad must their stuff be if you are calling your own writing terrible? I think it only serves to further discourage people who were already worried about posting.<br />
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I get it, and like I said, I'm guilty of it as well. I know we all like to come across as humble and to not toot our own horns. That's ok, too, I'm not saying any of us have to walk around touting our writing as the next Shakespeare or JK Rowling. I'm just saying that we aren't doing ourselves or anyone else any favors when we walk around trying to convince everyone that our writing is crappy, or inferior to anyone else's. We're all <i>different </i>writers, and that is part of what makes it all more interesting. How boring would it be if we all wrote the same or could be easily ranked from best to worst? And why should anyone even be considered the best or the worst? It's all subjective, and there is room for all of us. Don't compare yourself to others, don't apologize for your own writing or tell people it's terrible. Nobody is obligated to read what you've written, just put it out there and let the reader decide what they think of it.<br />
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Keep in mind that most of your thoughts of inadequacy have been felt by every other writer who has ever posted a story around here. Most of us have the same anxieties and worries that our writing isn't as good as that person's, or this person's, or just good enough in general. Or that our story is boring or that nobody will want to read it, or that people will judge us as humans because we can't know what we're talking about because we've never experienced something we're writing about. It doesn't matter. We're all just writing, trying to come up with good stories and do the best we can. Don't stress about it, and don't make a habit of disparaging your own writing because more often than not you're not even just hurting yourself by saying these things, you're hurting others.<br />
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I realize some people may disagree, or feel like how other people feel about their own writing or inadequacy isn't your responsibility. And you're right to a point. The thing about fanfic writing though to me is that more than anything, it is a community. And it doesn't really work well if there isn't some community aspect to it. I mean, think about it: would it be anywhere near as fun or interesting if only one person wrote stories? Even if they were all fantastic stories, it's still fun to read things from lots of different people. And we can always use new writers, so it's important to create as encouraging an environment as possible to get more people to start writing and sharing their stuff. You never know where the next great story will come from, or what stories we've missed out on because someone felt like they weren't good enough to write or post. <br />
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<br />Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-33877185575655994732018-03-24T09:39:00.004-05:002018-03-24T09:39:59.779-05:00From the Archives: Let's Not Overthink This<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;"><i>This post originally appeared <a href="http://hanleiafanficwriters.blogspot.com/2011/08/lets-not-overthink-this.html" target="_blank">HERE</a> on August 4, 2011.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"></span>Often times there are certain story elements that we find very
intimidating to tackle as writers. Some things flow easily and don't
scare us at all, but others we feel a huge sense of responsibility to
get perfect because they mark a significant moment or turning point in
our characters. <br /><br />Of course the easiest way to avoid this sort of
anxiety is to give in to the intimidation and simply not write it. I
think we can often spend so much time worrying about writing something
that it makes it ten times worse than it could possibly be. <br /><br />The most glaring example of this is the infamous first time. Whether you think it takes place on the way to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bespin</span>, after he gets out of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">carbonite</span>, after the battle of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Endor</span>, after their wedding or maybe even sometime before <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ESB</span>, this is obviously a huge moment in their relationship, probably <em>the </em>most
important moment. I had thought about writing it for years and was too
intimidated to even try. And I'm not talking about being too intimidated
to publish, I mean too intimidated to even sit down and write it for
only myself with no intention of actually showing it to anyone else. I
realize this sounds a bit crazy, but I have a feeling I'm not alone
here. <br /><br />Now that I finally decided to write it - which just
occurred to me for no particular reason, I just finally felt inspired
and like maybe I could write it and get it out there - I wonder why I
made such a big deal out of it. Now that it's out there, I don't even
think about it anymore. Not a whole lot of other people saw it as a big
deal and I don't see why I made it out to be. <span style="color: red;">(<i>2018 note: Yeah, it's been several years now since I wrote that, and I for sure don't think about it anymore or think of it as a big deal)</i></span><br /><br />I feel that a lot of times as writers we can really <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">overthink</span>
things to the point of stifling our own creativity. Han wouldn't waste
time worrying about the consequences of his actions or what people might
think, he'd just do it. And you know what? He doesn't really seem like
he regrets much. Except maybe dumping <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Jabba's</span> spice haul.... <br /><br />So stop <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">overthinking</span> things. Don't <em>not </em>write
something because the subject matter intimidates you, just go ahead and
do it. And sure, maybe after you write it you'll decide you're not
happy with it and don't want to show it to anyone else and that's okay
too. I think we tend to give our readers too much influence on how we
feel about our own writing. And it's also funny how we can get twenty
positive reviews but we will fixate on the one negative comment. It
probably isn't even a mean-spirited comment, but we tend to put far more
stock in the criticisms we receive than the praises. <span style="color: red;"><i>(2018 note: This is still true, and I still don't know what the right remedy for it is aside from somehow making it impossible for anyone to leave negative feedback.)</i></span><br /><br />Here's the
thing: nobody puts as much thought into your writing as you do. They
are only going to see the writing itself and aren't going to be able to
see how worried you were about getting it just right or how much anxiety
you had when you finally hit the publish button and waited for a few
reviews. I started writing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">fanfic</span>
almost ten years ago (only recently started publishing) <span style="color: red;"><i>(2018 note: Yikes, it's been WAY longer than that now!) </i></span>and it took me
until a month ago to finally write and publish this big moment that I
had been too scared to write. The truth of it is, nobody really cares
that much. They don't see it as such a huge thing. They just see it as
another story to read. You agonize over writing something and then you
get a couple of comments and that's the end of it and you wonder why you
were so worried about it for so long. It's only been a month and I
almost forgot I even published it. <br /><br />So stop worrying so much
about what other people are thinking and just write what you want to
write. Don't be intimidated by stuff that you think is such a huge deal
because most other people aren't going to see it that way. Leia always
spends a lot of time thinking about the consequences of her actions. Be
like Han instead, just write and put it out there. It's just writing.
There aren't really any consequences anyway. </div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>2018 note: I decided to bring another old one up from the archives, and I think this subject will never stop being important, as most of us will never stop overthinking what we're doing and becoming paralyzed by our own worries about what we're writing. It's good to be reminded that we all feel like that, maybe MOST of the time, and you're not alone. Even the people who write things that you think are so amazing and flawless that surely you could never live up to what they write, and they couldn't possibly ever have these same feelings. Except they probably totally do, and they still write and publish anyway. Also maybe because I'm going through it yet again with my current WIP. Mostly though I just want people to be less afraid to get their writing out there!</i></span> </div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-4070358585252043512018-02-08T14:17:00.002-06:002018-02-08T14:17:44.248-06:00A Note to My Fellow Han and Leia Fans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfXfzXYC-frUJBG8VKeHME9ROdJjqNILpqB9nZCoOOnErdp2sun-iuHRShYrU_Qekfk5H_Z4NIybFsQIGmcy16YVMX7PP6iBFZFI_Ov5b_EeEqK__jMjzWQNBdk8yI9eKfpSpFQZ-gE9J/s1600/hanleia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="640" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfXfzXYC-frUJBG8VKeHME9ROdJjqNILpqB9nZCoOOnErdp2sun-iuHRShYrU_Qekfk5H_Z4NIybFsQIGmcy16YVMX7PP6iBFZFI_Ov5b_EeEqK__jMjzWQNBdk8yI9eKfpSpFQZ-gE9J/s400/hanleia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
So, how's everyone doing? Does anyone still check here for posts? I'd like to post more, my intention is not to let this disappear into internet obscurity. We'll see if we can help that. Anyway...<br />
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I'm sure most of you have seen the trailer for the new Solo movie. And with it of course is the onslaught of media that comes with it. And, of course, the inevitable discussions that are already beginning and will surely get worse as the movie approaches, and at their absolute worst after it happens. I have already seen a link to an article that said something like, "Seeing Han and Qi'ra in the Solo movie trailer will change your mind about Han and Leia." Ok, first, how does one trailer with a few brief moments tell us anything about his relationship with the woman? Second, I clicked on said article, and unless I missed something, all it did was recap the trailer in general, stating facts and offering no opinions. So, not sure what that was about except for clickbait. Oh, and third, are we serious here that Leia's first love was named Kier and Han's first love was named Kira - oh, sorry - I mean Qi'ra? Really?<br />
<br />
I've been bracing myself for this since this movie was announced. I fully expect there to be a LOT of discussion about Han and this woman from his past, and how they were really meant to be together and she was his true soulmate and it's just too bad that later he had to settle for Leia, because look how that turned out? They will tell us that she knew him better than Leia ever would. And I also fully expect her to die tragically at the end of the movie, because that is just the easiest thing for them to do with her. It's going to be a total rehash of the whole Bria thing, except way worse because social media is WAY far beyond what it was when the old Han Solo trilogy books came out, and a lot more people are watching movies than reading books.<br />
<br />
But here is the thing that I want to say. For those of us who have loved Han and Leia from the beginning, and have lot let what has happened in the new movies define them in any way, and have never wavered from feeling like they were just a wonderful couple that we love to follow and read about and write about, don't let this or any other movie change any of that. Don't let anyone try and change your opinion or tell you that this changes anything about the Han and Leia we all grew to love from the original trilogy. I admit that of course I've been one to overreact to a lot of what has been done to these two over the last few years since Disney took over, but I don't want to let it get to me anymore.<br />
<br />
A few months after TFA came out, I asked you all <a href="http://hanleiafanficwriters.blogspot.com/2016/05/what-do-han-and-leia-fans-have-to-look.html" target="_blank">what we had to look forward to as Han and Leia fans.</a> Generally, I think most of us who still read here aren't really looking forward to anything in the official canon. They seem to be committed to making it all pretty terrible for our heroes. But the good news is that I've seen some awesome fanfic recently, and it's nice to see that so many Han and Leia fans are still treating them well and giving them the life together that they deserve.<br />
<br />
I don't know what my real point in writing this post is. I think mostly it is that I know that a lot of us are going to once again feel kind of hurt and betrayed by whatever might happen in this new movie that will probably make things even worse for Han and Leia somehow, even without Leia being in it at all. There will absolutely also be a loud contingency of people who will be shouting about how Qi'ra is so much better for Han than Leia ever was. What I'm saying is that you don't have to listen to it, or pay attention to it. Or even argue with those people. It's not a contest that we need to win. If there are people who want to ship those two, let them. We don't have to read their stories or agree with them. And hopefully they can respect our different opinion on the subject and not turn it into an all out war over which couple is better. Because, well, it's not like there is a way to "win" that is there?<br />
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Just keep reading and writing about the couple you love and don't let any of it get to you. I know it is probably going to get difficult at times, but I think we can handle it!Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com150tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-51109120901986008302018-01-09T18:24:00.002-06:002018-01-09T18:24:14.365-06:00From the archives: Writing Your First Fanfic<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;"><i>This post originally appeared </i><a href="http://hanleiafanficwriters.blogspot.com/2011/11/writing-your-first-fanfic.html" target="_blank">HERE</a><i> on November 3, 2011.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>2018 Note: I thought it might be good to get back to some of what we had originally wanted the blog to be about in the first place. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><i> </i></span>I'd like to thank amara z for the suggestion on writing this as a post.
And it will get us back to posting more "topical" posts as according to
the poll that seems to be what you all want more of!<br /><br />So, you want
to write a fanfic, but you aren't sure where to get started, huh? Well,
there are probably at least a hundred different things you could do to
start, but here I'll just give you some suggestions.<br /><br />First,
obviously, you need an idea. There are no set rules as to what this idea
needs to entail other than it should probably have something to do with
Star Wars and Han and Leia. I could tell you that you should start
simple or with a short story, but there have been plenty of writers
(*cough* Push *cough*) that have started right out of the gate with
pretty epic story lines, so there's no reason your first story can only
be five hundred words. But if you only want it to be that long, then
that's okay, too.<br /><br />Don't judge your ideas. Any idea is valid. Even
if it's an idea that has been done before, I still believe that every
author can bring their own unique perspective to it. Sure, there are
dozens of trip to Bespin stories. And some are similar, but no two are
exactly alike. If you think you have something to say on a subject that
has been done before, write it. <br /><br />So, you've got your idea. Now
what? First, even if you don't have time to start writing the story, at
least write down the idea somewhere so you don't forget it. You'd be
amazed how quickly things can fly right out of your brain, never to be
heard from again. Don't judge your idea. Don't analyze whether it's
worth pursuing or not. If I only wrote things I thought would be the
most amazing stories ever... well, I never would've written anything.<br /><br />Find
some quiet time and sit down and start typing. For those adults with
children among us, this time is precious, so hopefully you can find some
of it when there aren't a dozen other things weighing on your mind. Or
hopefully you can at least tune out all of the other stresses in your
life. It is preferable if it is either quiet or maybe some music in the
background. I sometimes find that listening to the movie soundtracks
provides inspiration. Although sometimes that can also be distracting
because I'll recognize certain music cues and be like, "Oh, this was
when they were in the garbage masher!"<br /><br />And lastly, start typing.
Don't have any rules to start with. Just write what you want to write.
If the dialogue is what is clearest in your mind and you don't feel like
filling in all of the other details in between, then just go with that.
There is no reason you can't go back and add later. I know in the past
I've always been sort of rigid in my writing, basically telling myself I
couldn't move on until I completely finished a certain scene or
whatever, but I don't do that anymore. I find it's best to write what
I'm inspired to write at the time and to get typed up the things most
clear in my head. It can be demoralizing when you're forcing yourself to
write something you're not into at the moment just to get to the stuff
you <em>are. </em>So just keep typing and blanks can be filled in later.<br /><br />At
any time during this process you can send it to a trusted friend to
read. It is up to you at what point this should happen and I know for me
it depends on the story. Sometimes I want Push to read it right away
and sometimes I don't send it to her until it's halfway or even almost
done. Sometimes I send it when it is more complete and sometimes I send
it when I know there are some details missing but I want her to look at
it anyway. You'll know when it's time. There is nothing wrong with
asking for help. And by help I mean really almost anything you might
need for the story. Whether it be spelling, grammar, even helping move
the plot along if there are some details you just can't seem to get
worked out. It can be tough at first, especially since sometimes it
feels like giving up control or getting help in certain things means the
story isn't entirely yours anymore. As long as you don't hand it to
someone and say, "Here, you write this whole thing," then it's still
yours. <br /><br />You can work alone as long as you want, though.
Eventually it helps to share it. But at first, write as though you are
the only one who is going to see it. You can delete anything you later
deem too embarrassing to share with another human being. I promise, the
more you do this, the lower your standards become for that sort of
thing. You need a combination of uninhibited writing that is just for
you and then later it helps to have the motivation of someone reading it
and telling you what they like about it. It is always more inspiring
when someone tells you that what you're writing is worthwhile. Often it
can be tough to push through to publishing without that sort of
encouragement along the way. That's not to say it's impossible, because I
think a lot of us (myself included) did it on our own to start with,
but once you get to sharing it, it's tough to go back the other way. <br /><br />All
right, you've decided to share it with someone and they've read it.
This can provide motivation and/or editing help. I don't care if you got
straight A's in English. Everyone needs someone to read their stuff.
I've not noticed in my own stories some of the sort of mistakes I
correct for other people all the time. Sometimes you just need a fresh
pair of eyes looking at it. It doesn't mean you're stupid or that under
most circumstances you do, in fact, know that you were supposed to use
their instead of there. <br /><br />At this point, it is really up to you
how much back in forth is involved here. It can be a one and done thing
or you can ask over and over again. And this is another thing that often
depends on the story. Sometimes I send Push something once, and
sometimes I'll bother her with it four or five times, it just depends on
the scene. This is where you would go back and fill in those details
you'd been avoiding, or whatever scenes you'd been putting off. Trust
me, a lot of times they're easier to deal with when the rest of the
story is almost done and it's the only thing holding you back. It's
tougher to push through them when there's not much story there yet and
you can just as easily give up on it. <br /><br />So you've had your quiet
writing time. You've shared with a friend for motivation and for
editing. You've got what you think is a complete story, so what next?
Time to publish! Most of us here are probably going through
fanfiction.net as I do. It's easy enough to set up an account over there
and post. The only problem is that I find one of the hardest things to
deal with are titles and summaries. I've literally had people tell me
they avoided reading something of mine due to one or both of those.
Fortunately, a friend had told them to read anyway and they were
pleasantly surprised, so you can certainly do it wrong. <br /><br />My
advice here, although I'm not sure I'm qualified, is to keep it simple. I
struggle sometimes with what might be too much plot to give away in the
summary but you just do what you feel is right. And please, don't put
"I suck at summaries" in your summary. Yes, maybe you do suck at
summaries. But writing that within the summary doesn't really entice me
to read it. Even a sucky summary without the commentary on its suckiness
is going to make me want to read the story more than telling me you
suck at summaries. <br /><br />Once it's published, there's not much left to
do but sit and wait for reviews. Wait, reviews? Where are my reviews?
Perhaps the hardest thing about all of this is sometimes you're just not
going to get many of them. Why? Because there are more readers than
writers and I think the people who just read have no idea how much a
simple acknowledgment that they read and enjoyed your story can mean to
someone. I also think that the reviews tend to increase the more you
write. This doesn't even have to do with you getting better (although
you probably will) but I think seeing your name more often up there just
gives you a better chance of people reading and reviewing your things. <br /><br />It's
definitely tough to sit back and wonder why you don't have more reviews
and you have to try not to let that get to you. Don't let it stop you
from writing. If you get ten reviews for a one-shot you are probably <em>way </em>ahead
of the game. Another suggestion on the review front? Thank the
reviewers! On ff.net it is very easy to send a little message back and
tell someone you appreciated them taking the time to review. It takes
thirty seconds. And I think that it is nice to let someone know that
their efforts were appreciated and my instincts tell me that it makes
them more likely to review later. And please, review other people's
stuff, too. Remember the golden rule? You want reviews, you review other
people's stuff. It gives the whole thing much more sense of community.
Push and I never would've started talking if I didn't start reviewing
her first story. You never know where friends might come from. <br /><br />After
that, just keep writing! Don't try and force stuff, but do write when
you want to write. If you're having trouble coming up with any ideas,
I'd suggest going over to Nerfherder's Playground and looking at some of
the old challenges there. Maybe nothing will come of it, but it's good
to keep writing anyway. <br /><br />And I've said it before and I'll say it
again. Don't delete anything you write! I think all of us probably at
some point write something that the next day we feel embarrassed about
for whatever reason. Whether the idea was too silly or you decide the
reactions are too melodramatic or maybe you experimented with writing
sex for the first time and you're afraid that someone you know might
find it and you'd simply die if someone knew you wrote that. First of
all, when you are on your friends' computers, do you snoop around their
files? I know I don't, and I'd hope they wouldn't do that to me, either.
That's not to say that you shouldn't at least close any documents
you've left open with fanfic on them ;) You never know when you want to
go back to something you wrote before for any number of reasons. Using
it for a different story or even just laughing at yourself and seeing
how far you've come. You don't have to publish everything. <br /><br />All
right, I think that's a good starting point but let me know if you want
any other ideas on anything. Or if you want to disagree with anything
I've written. Discussions make the blog more fun!</div>
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<i><span style="color: red;">2018 note: A lot of this advice still stands. But I'd like to add a few things. One of the big ones is don't be intimidated. We have ALL been the new kid, showing up in what looks like this totally established fandom and wondering why anyone would ever read what we have to write when there are already so many Han and Leia writers, with such great stories, and everyone already "knows" everyone. Seriously, this fandom is old enough that NONE of us were around when it started, so we've all been the new kid at one time or another. We've all felt the same thing. There are readers for almost every story. And some of the newest contributors to the fandom quickly became quite popular, so there is no reason that your stories can't gain some traction and get read. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: red;">Another big thing I'm surprised I didn't mention, don't judge yourself! Just write! You can scrutinize it more later, but to start, just get words out and write whatever comes to you, and do not spend any time thinking that what you're writing is dumb or not good or nobody will want to read it anyway. Generally we are all our own harshest critics, and that harsh critic prevents way too many of us from ever really doing what we want to do and sharing our writing with others. What's the worst that could happen? </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: red;">Getting readers certainly gains some patience. But it can be worth it. It's funny to me even looking back at this original blog post it only had 3 comments and 2 of them were me. So if we let number of comments determine whether or not we'd keep posting, the blog would've ended a LONG time ago. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: red;">I hope this encourages some people to get writing! </span></i> </div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-21732495122694788822017-12-23T20:33:00.000-06:002017-12-23T20:33:06.544-06:00Merry Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8UJAHN4eGWnUnUYmfPEJuMMsfF6V2pM5XP8NC5NtI8XfmgretWZbbY_lpcaqdwPM8YbcsEVDzaQkpvsvUfzVRZW9gAMREHXuBlnjC7XojD5nxbsyJwLY7OJAaSYiNskJlBjlWaP7wDbc/s1600/starwars-xmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="248" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8UJAHN4eGWnUnUYmfPEJuMMsfF6V2pM5XP8NC5NtI8XfmgretWZbbY_lpcaqdwPM8YbcsEVDzaQkpvsvUfzVRZW9gAMREHXuBlnjC7XojD5nxbsyJwLY7OJAaSYiNskJlBjlWaP7wDbc/s400/starwars-xmas.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
It feels somewhat wrong not to post and remember that it was this day one year ago that our dear Carrie suffered the cardiac event that would ultimately lead to her death a few days later. It has been a glaring loss especially now, knowing that if she were still with us we'd be watching her make witty remarks all over the place in these interviews. She is still greatly missed.<br />
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I also want to just thank those of you who still come around and comment on the blog. I know that posting here is far from ideal as far as formats go, but I appreciate all the discussion and will try to keep content coming as long as people keep commenting. Our little fanfic community is awesome and knows how to treat this wonderful couple and I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds reading about them strangely comforting. So, many thanks to those of you out there writing or commenting or participating in any way.<br />
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Now, just for fun, what do you think about Han and Leia and holiday traditions? I've decided that they tend to go kind of all out. Han is someone who never had any holiday traditions, and never celebrated anything. Leia has many happy memories of big holiday traditions with her family, and Han basically can't wait until they have their kids and can totally go all in with holiday stuff. Like it's just the greatest thing in the universe to him that he has this home and this amazing wife and they can have big celebrations that his kids will remember for the rest of their lives. That's my sap for today.<br />
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Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate, and hope everyone enjoys the holidays!Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-67267874228214056672017-12-15T17:42:00.000-06:002017-12-15T20:36:12.689-06:00Saw The Last Jedi: Many SPOILERS Ahead!Ok, I'm sure many people are like, didn't you loudly and angrily HATE the last movie? Why did you go see this one on the first night? I hear you. I get it. In my case it is largely that it has become a family tradition for a group of us to go on opening night, and I would find it very hard to stop going now. Also, in spite of all the hate I have for the last movie, I felt that there was just no way really that they could make this worse and anger me, disappoint me, and break my heart like the last one did. And after briefly worrying that maybe I was wrong about that, I was pleasantly surprised that I was correct in that prediction. I still have a lot of problems with the movie, but it didn't affect me to my core like the last one. And instead of staying up all night ranting to friends about how we couldn't believe what they'd done, I sent a brief synopsis to a few people I'd promised that to and went to bed and slept like a baby.<br />
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Chances are this might not be entirely coherent or in order, but I'll do my best. <br />
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So, the movie. The beginning is a space battle that didn't really pull me in at all, and oddly we also get all of Poe's piloting out of the way in the first 15 minutes. Remember Hux? Well, he is reduced to a bumbling idiot right off the bat with some over-the-top humor that felt kind of out of place here and makes you wonder how stupid the First Order really is. Poe had been leading this crazy attack and it doesn't go very well for the Resistance and they lose quite a few pilots, which Leia is, understandably, not happy about. Poe still thinks the mission was a success because they did take out one of the Dreadnaught cruisers, but Leia reminds him that many people died and he was reckless. This is when she slapped him, which for sure seemed out of place, and it STARTED a scene so you only got a second to be like, wait, did she just slap him? Then she demoted him. This whole beginning was pretty long and didn't really do much to suck me into the movie. And honestly, TFA did a very good job of sucking me in right away as I turned to the person sitting next to me after Finn and Rey took off on Jakku and said, "I love this so far." I didn't feel that way this time, though to be fair, I was obviously going in with a different attitude.<br />
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We get to see Snoke in "person" this time rather than through hologram. So we find out he is human-sized and wears a shiny gold robe and basically just looks like a very disfigured human. You wanted to learn more about Snoke and what his deal is and where he came from and why he manipulated Kylo? Well, tough luck. Because you find out absolutely nothing new about him other than the fact that he is not a giant like that hologram from the last movie suggested. He seems mad at Kylo for not being strong enough and he "still has his father's heart." So we're blaming Han for Kylo not being evil enough. I guess sort of a nice gesture, but his mom has a pretty amazing heart too, but anyway. He also calls Kylo a child, which is just dumb, because can we remember that he is in his 30s? Kylo smashes his helmet in another tantrum, so we may have seen the last of that. <br />
<br />
Remember Finn? He wakes up, and right away seems fine, but also his first concern is where Rey is. But first, they are still dealing with the First Order, who can track them through lightspeed, which is a big deal. They can't really escape to anywhere if they can be tracked through lightspeed. So the First Order is there 30 seconds after they arrive from their jump and of course on the offensive. The Resistance fighters go to get in their X-wings but they are bombed before they can do anything. Then they blow up the bridge and kill basically the entire command crew as they are sucked into space. But not before we see Kylo in his ship with a clear shot to take Leia out and he chooses not to fire, but it doesn't matter because someone else does it anyway. Leia is included in this blast and is sucked into space. Remember Admiral Ackbar? He is gone in this blast. So Leia is floating helplessly through space and getting all frozen just like someone sucked into space in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. But then there is this very long and slow motion thing where her fingers twitch and her eyes open and she uses the Force to float herself back to the ship so they take her in and she is unconscious, but alive.<br />
<br />
See, I feel like we need a cheat sheet on just what the Force is capable of. Sometimes (and at least a few of those times are in this movie) it seems maybe a little TOO powerful. Also, I had to wonder what the whole purpose of this scene was. We don't really know from just watching the movies how much if ever Leia trained. I don't know if it was a way to just show she was strong? We would kind of already know that, right? Maybe to show she had the Force so it makes sense later for her to talk to Luke from afar? Well we've known since ESB she could do that. Maybe to set up some amazing moment that would've happened in 9? Entirely possible, but I hate to think what we missed out on there.<br />
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As they are wheeling Leia to medical, Finn takes this little beacon thing that she had shown him earlier that was meant to help Rey get back to them later, but he can also use it to find her. So he sneaks down to escape and gets caught by Rose, who is a maintenance worker who is hiding out while crying because her sister was a pilot who had died in the earlier battle. But she gets distracted by seeing Finn, who somehow is already incredibly famous and she is all starstruck when she sees him and he has to pretend he is not leaving, because she doesn't want to see anyone running away like a coward, especially when her sister had died saving them all (she released the bombs that took out the dreadnaught, and gave her life to do it). So she tases him to take him back and report him.<br />
<br />
Somehow amid this exchange they are discussing the whole tracking through lightspeed thing. And miraculously, and VERY conveniently, within like five minutes they come up with a brilliant plan of how to sneak onto the ship and shut down the tracker, because Finn as a former stormtrooper can know his way around the ship, and Rose... for reasons I can't even remember, but again VERY conveniently, totally knows how to help him do it too. Poe helps them get this plan going because he spends most of this movie making impulsive decisions and thinking he is right and what everyone else is doing is wrong.<br />
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Which reminds me, after Leia is unconscious Admiral Holdo is put in charge. This is Laura Dern's character. Now, they do not at all mention it in the movie, but this is one of Leia's childhood friends from Alderaan. It annoyed me that this wasn't mentioned, because later on they have some interactions that would have much more emotional resonance if you knew that back story, but without knowing it, it just seems weird. It would've taken like ONE little line of dialog to clear that up, but again, with these movies now we're forced to rely on all this outside source material to truly get the whole movie. Holdo makes sure to remind Poe that he has been demoted, and Poe keeps thinking she is wrong, and she keeps sending him away. As a side note, I would not be surprised if there is already some erotic Holdo/Poe fanfic out there. Anyway...<br />
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So Finn and Rose take off on their mission which is to find this code breaker who can help them get past First Order (I just typed "Imperial" there and had to go back) security to shut down the tracker. And they don't have much time, because currently their ship is slowly moving through realspace with the First Order following them and firing into their shields (just like the Force, I'm left wondering just how powerful shields are really supposed to be, because if they worked THAT well I feel like the OT would've been a little different, and why not have them up ALL the time?) while they slowly use up all of their fuel. They find out the name of this code breaker from Maz who only makes a brief appearance in holo and knows this guy who hangs out at the high roller tables on some casino planet.<br />
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Oh, right, more importantly, Rey and Luke, which is where the last movie left off. Someone reminded me that JJ said in interviews that Luke knew who she was when he saw her. Well, as expected, Luke has no idea who she is when he sees her, or at any point later in this movie. He is very much not like the Luke we remember as he spends quite a while refusing to help. Like, a LOT of time refusing to help. Rey even reminds him, "I've seen your daily routine, you're not busy." Luke has been totally shut off to the Force for however long he has been hiding there, so when Chewie finally breaks down Luke's door he finally seems to find out about Han, who of course he had no idea was gone.<br />
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Luke still isn't going to help her, but we see how he survives on this lonely island. First, there are Porgs. Which I 100% admit are adorable, and they aren't annoying the way that people found Ewoks annoying. Although Chewie roasts one to eat and has a hard time enjoying it because all these adorable Porgs are staring at him sadly. But, I mean really, the Porg was already dead and cooked, so he might as well eat it at that point. Then there are those creatures who we saw pictures of a long time ago who basically look like fish nuns. Luke says they are the guardians of the ancient Jedi texts that reside on that island. But that was pretty pointless too if you ask me, they were merely there for comedic purposes as Rey occasionally caused some havoc. Mostly you didn't see them and forgot they were there. Luke survives by milking some weird thing, which was gross and unnecessary. And catching fish. Which he for some reason does with a REALLY tall spear from like a hundred feet up, perilously from a cliff. Instead of, you know, going down near the water and just maybe using a fishing pole? Or even just a shorter spear? But no he has to go fishing in the most ludicrously dangerous way possible.<br />
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Sometime pretty early on we also learn that Rey and Kylo have this weird connection through the Force so they can speak to each other as though they are in a room together. This happens many times throughout the film, including once where Kylo isn't wearing a shirt and Rey asks if maybe he could put something on. Personally I sensed no romantic connection at all here, but at the same time I am positive the Reylos will see this as total proof that they will wind up together. Rey for some reason believes that Kylo can turn back, and refers to him as Ben. She asks him why he would kill his father who loved him, and why he hated him. Kylo says he didn't hate his father. Well, he had a funny way of showing it. Rey keeps insisting that there is good in him, and that she has seen his future, and she keeps telling this to Luke.<br />
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We find out that Luke's guilt stems from an admittedly very bad decision he made. We see this one memory from both Kylo's perspective and Luke's. Kylo tells Rey that he woke up to find Luke about to kill him in his sleep back when he was at the Academy. Luke tells Rey that what really happened was that he went to look into his mind, because he knew there was darkness there, and what he saw was that he was so far gone, and Snoke had done so much damage, that there was no turning back. Ok, so time out here. Luke still felt there was hope for Vader, who had spent 20+ years being pure evil, but his nephew Ben, who at that point hadn't yet done anything truly terrible, was beyond hope? What? Ok, anyway, Luke admits that in a moment of weakness he thought about killing him right then (uh... no, Luke wouldn't do that, but ok) but immediately realized that he couldn't do it, but Ben woke up while the lightsaber was still ignited, and that was when he burned the temple and killed all the young Jedi except a few he apparently took with him, although there is never any mention of what happened to the ones he took with him. We never see any other bad Jedi. So, this is when Luke felt he had failed completely, and disappeared. Again, doesn't sound like Luke to me. Poor Leia, both men in her life ran away and hid because of misplaced guilt.<br />
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Ok, so back to Finn and Rose. They go on a very long mission we spend a lot of time on that ultimately turns out to be a failure and therefore pretty pointless. One sort of cool thing about this was getting to see a planet unlike we've seen before, with the casinos on this resort and stuff. So it was nice to see something totally different there. Finn is exactly as you remember him from the last movie. Rose is a decent addition, she is likeable, you like her with Finn. But, again, this whole side mission is just pointless so you can't even really appreciate that like you should. They see the code breaker they need to talk to just before they are arrested for illegally parking their shuttle. Oh no, mission ruined! Except in another unbelievable coincidence, they talk very loudly about their plan in front of another prisoner who just happens to be an expert code breaker. Isn't it amazing that this skill is so specialized that they knew of ONE person who could do it, but when they missed talking to him they happened to find ANOTHER person who could do it? This guy seems kind of shady, but since he easily breaks out of the cell (and it is definitely not clear at all why he was only breaking out of the cell then instead of already having done it earlier) they start thinking that maybe he could be worth trusting. But then there is a very long chase where they also take a moment to free some animals who are enslaved for racing, and they get saved by that guy and BB-8. I'm not sure if they ever get told that guy's name, but it is Benicio del Toro's character who for some reason they refer to as "DJ." Now they have their code breaker and can go complete their mission.<br />
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Let's see, let's go back to Luke. Eventually Luke goes on the Falcon, and Artoo wakes up and Luke very briefly shows his old self as he is excited to see him, and he says he can't help anymore, and Artoo shows him again the holo of Leia asking Obi Wan for help which Luke thinks is a dirty trick, but seems to have the desired effect. He tells Rey that he will train her. His training of her seems even less complete than Yoda training Luke. He makes a point to tell her that the Force is not about lifting rocks. His training of her is one of the things that at the moment I'm not remembering in detail. So much of it was interrupted by her connecting through the Force with Kylo. Or her insisting that Ben can be turned, and she saw his future, and Luke insisting that no, he can't. Later on Luke does finally break and use the Force again. He connects with Leia, who is still in her coma, but her fingers move so we know she knows he's there. But, eventually, Rey leaves Luke on the island. The only thing we don't steal from ESB here is her lifting Luke's X-wing out of the ocean as it is clearly lying there.<br />
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Back with the Resistance, Poe is leading a mutiny because he thinks what Holdo is doing is wrong. So he and his little crew, that includes Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie, take over. This doesn't last long though as Leia comes out of the fog, still dressed in her hospital gown and using a cane, and stuns Poe. It's clear that Poe admires Leia, but he also drives her crazy sometimes. In fact there is a moment where Holdo says "I kind of like him." (again, hello, erotic fanfic) and Leia smiles and says, "I like him too." He acts a lot like the son they didn't have. Anyway, for the beginning of this movie I wasn't as impressed with Leia, but she was mostly yelling orders. From this moment on, she was, in my opinion, just great. She felt like Leia, she got to act a whole lot more human than she is usually allowed to act in these movies. It was emotional and sincere and after having been worried she wouldn't be able to do what they had expected her to do for the last movie, I was left thinking, nope, she absolutely would've pulled it off. Which just makes me sad again. But anyway, everything Leia does from the time she wakes up from her coma I thought was great.<br />
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So instead of flying back to the Resistance, Rey flies back to Kylo. Chewie drops her off in an escape pod. She basically surrenders herself to him and she is brought before Snoke, because this is what Snoke wanted from Kylo. Or, more accurately, he wants Luke. So there is this confrontation there, Snoke wants Rey to bring Luke to him, of course she refuses. So Snoke wants Kylo to hill her. They set the whole scene up to look like when he killed Han with how he holds his lightsaber, but he is using his other hand to use the Force to move Luke's lightsaber, that is sitting next to Snoke, and instead of killing her, he slices Snoke in half, so that is the end of him. Then Rey and Kylo have to work together to take out all of the Imperial... or First Order, I guess? guards. Whatever, the red guys from ROTJ, except for some reason this time these guys have lightsaber-ish weapons that work like whips and stuff or weapons more like the ninja turtles would use. I don't get why in this new trilogy so many weapons seem to be made to be able to battle with lightsabers. It's basically making it so there isn't anything special about lightsabers. Of course, they kill all the guards. So momentarily you're wondering if Kylo is turned, because he killed Snoke, and Rey wants him to come with her (again I don't get why she is so forgiving of him!) but she wants her to come with him and she is incredibly disappointed but of course won't join him. He tries to turn her by reminding her that her parents are nobody, they're just junkers that sold her for money for alcohol. Earlier he had noted that she is looking for her parents everywhere, first in Han and now in Luke. Anyway, she gets away.<br />
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Back to the Resistance, Poe is telling Leia how he thought Holdo was being a coward, and Leia has to explain to him what she was really doing, which of course turns out to be a brilliant plan. Then Poe feels bad. Poe is a lot like Han and even dresses like him. This whole time their main ship was slowly moving and losing fuel and waiting to be able to jump to lightspeed, but Holdo's plan was that everyone could go in their transports and go down to an old base on a nearby planet and they'd all be fine. Don't ask me why they would be able to do that, there was a reason but I don't remember. So everyone left alive on the ship gets on these transports and Holdo has to stay behind and steer the ship apparently (although she does almost no steering of the ship) and there is a short and sweet moment between her and Leia when she says she needs to stay behind. Again, this is when it would've been helpful to know that they had a history and had been friends since childhood, because otherwise it's like 2 random women talking and being emotional. Leia (finally!) admits that she can't handle any more losses. Yeah, darn right, she has been through enough! And Holdo is just like, "Yes you can!" Which seems the wrong time for cheerfulness. Even Leia would have her breaking point. Anyway, again this is a moment that Carrie does very well, she is very emotional and a little tearful and they take each other's hands and say goodbye.<br />
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While this is happening, we are still sort of hoping maybe Finn and Rose will shut down that tracker. Well, they do manage to sneak onto the ship and steal First Order uniforms and get to the door they need to get to, and DJ gets them in there but immediately when the door opens the First Order is there to take them in. So, mission failure. And we find out that DJ was getting paid off for turning them in. That whole thing was kind of odd and confusing to me. Why would he have taken them that far if he was going to turn them in? I was waiting for some other twist there, but nope, nothing. That was the last we saw of him, walking away with his money and telling them it was just business. Well, when all this happens and they are about to be executed, Holdo back on the Resistance ship uses her last bits of fuel and her final moments to put the ship into lightspeed and fly straight through the big ship where Kylo and Rey are, and where Finn and Rose are. (Going back a bit, I actually think that this is when Rey gets away, everyone is kind of knocked out when this happens, and Rey is able to escape while Kylo doesn't regain consciousness right away.) Finn and Rose were seconds away form being executed, again by some sort of lightsaber-ish weapons that would decapitate them, instead of a blaster or something. And also for no real reason this is when Captain Phasma shows up and very slowly counts down instead of just, like, getting on with it. But that slow countdown of course means that the ship is wrecked before they can be killed.<br />
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When they wake up the whole place is basically burning down around them and everyone is trying to escape. So, of course they decide this would be a great time for Finn to have a personal battle with Phasma. Really, why? This whole thing was completely forced. Phasma was a fun idea for a character, and then it is totally clear from both of these movies that they really had no idea what to do with her. They imply that she and Finn have this personal fight with one another, but I don't feel like we were given that much of a reason for them to feel so strongly toward one another. And I don't even think Finn would waste time "battling" her at this point, when what they really needed to do was escape. But because they needed to extend this all and force this whole thing, they have Finn and Phasma duel each other. And yet again, for reasons that can't possibly be explained, they duel with lightsaber-ish weapons that aren't lightsabers. How does anyone even know how to fight like this with these weapons without any sort of training? And seriously, especially for Phasma, she HAS a blaster. Why doesn't she just use it? It makes no sense! But apparently we are supposed to be invested in this battle. And in the end Finn gets her down to her knees, and conveniently doesn't have to be the one to kill her, as the floor around her gives way and she falls to her death. Because as I mentioned, the whole ship is burning down, which seems like such a great time for these guys to decide to waste time in a personal duel. But, finally, Finn and Rose escape.<br />
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Hux comes in to find that Snoke is dead, which of course he is not happy about. Kylo tells him that Rey did it, so right away we're like, oh, he's totally evil again already, there's no light left for him. They then go to escape. The few transports that didn't get destroyed make it down to the old base on the nearby planet and are hiding behind a big door a lot like Hoth. Also like Hoth, there is a nice trench out front for all the troops. And the place is pretty white, but it's not snowing. Also, the First Order sends down a bunch of AT-ATs. This time though along with this huge laser that they call a battering ram laser that they are going to blow down that big door with. A big question I have here is that if all that stuff came down from space, which we have to assume it did, why did they not just land way closer instead of far away and then having to very slowly use the AT-ATs to drag the thing close enough to use? Oh, I forgot, because the plot doesn't work otherwise. I forgot to mention that just before the door closes, one ship crashes through and everyone (including Leia) is blasting at it inside but we find out, conveniently, that was Finn and Rose having just escaped.<br />
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Oh, and I totally forgot, that earlier on the island as Luke goes to burn all of the ancient Jedi texts when he is alone and Rey has left, ghost Yoda shows up! This was unexpected. It was nice that they also went back to puppet yoda instead of stupid CGI Yoda, and let's remember it's actually kind of awesome that 37 years later Frank Oz can still come back and be Yoda for us. Yoda cracks an out of place joke and then explains to Luke that the Jedi are not about texts or anything. He probably says a few other profound things I didn't absorb really because I was busy thinking, "Look, it's Yoda and this is really weird." Although again during this Luke at least momentarily felt like Luke. <br />
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So back on the planet with the Resistance, as these AT-ATs are arriving, everyone hops into one of these old ships that are conveniently lying around and conveniently still (mostly) work and starts trying to fight the AT-ATs. But while this is happening, Luke suddenly shows up and goes and talks to Leia. This is one moment that to me, almost makes this movie worth it. I think I can almost say that I liked this scene better than Han and Leia. Maybe because it couldn't make me as sad as that did. Maybe the dialog just seemed more natural. Maybe just because I was way beyond being mad about this anymore. But it was very sweet, and had an added touch of emotion just knowing that we will never see Carrie again. But I did like this moment, even though later on I might feel differently and that Leia should be mad at him for running away. But Luke tells her he's sorry, and she says she knows he's sorry. And then the part that came closest to making me cry was when Luke handed her the dice that had been hanging on the Falcon, and the Han and Leia theme played, and Luke said, "No one is ever really gone," which simultaneously makes you think about Han being gone, and Carrie being gone, and now that Luke is gone. And basically your heart gets ripped out but this time in a sad way rather than the angry, betrayal sort of way from the last movie.<br />
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One other interesting thing about this interaction is that Leia says to Luke, "I know my son is gone." Which is sort of like, gee Leia, did it require him killing your husband for you to finally accept that? But at the same time, remember, early in the movie there is that moment where Kylo has the opportunity to kill her, and he doesn't take it. It's just like they show you in the trailer, going back and forth between him and Leia. She knows he is thinking it, and we assume she also knows he is not the one who took the shot. So it seems interesting to me that she would still think there was good in him before he killed Han, and then know that he chose not to kill her later but still tell Luke that he is lost for good.<br />
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Meanwhile, Rey finally shows up with Chewie and the Falcon and diverts some of the fire away from the Resistance ships because Kylo is in charge, and because he is a tantrum-throwing toddler he maes them all forget everything but firing on the Falcon and as Finn says here, "They hate that ship!" Finn has a moment where we all swear he is going to die and sacrifice himself by flying right into the giant laser, but Rose uses her ship to crash into him and move him out of the way, and then they have this moment where she says something about how war isn't killing the ones you hate, but saving the ones you love. And then she kisses him. Which... totally came out of nowhere, as they seemed to be good friends through their time together, but there didn't seem to be any romantic undertones there. Whatever, she passed out and he had to bring her back in for medical attention.<br />
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But now we come to the real climax of the movie. Luke walks out onto the battle field all alone. Kylo sees him and tells everyone and everything to fire on him, throwing another toddler tantrum. Every AT-AT is just blasting like crazy at Luke, and then they finally stop and before the smoke clears but after Hux sarcastically says, "You think you got him?" we see that Luke is just fine and he makes it even clearer when he brushes his shoulder kind of like, what else you got? So, clearly Kylo has to go face him. This is the big lightsaber duel, though Luke doesn't seem to have any interest in actually killing him. While this is going on, Poe is inside with Finn now and watching this. Finn wants them to go and help Luke, but Poe is like, no, he's doing this for a reason. He's distracting us so we can escape! Ok, fine, seems like a good enough idea. But also... if that was, in fact, his plan, why did he not just TELL them that? Like TWO minutes earlier he was inside with Leia. He could've told her that so they could all escape instead of leaving it to chance that they would figure it out and try and escape rather than standing by and watching, or even trying to interfere. So they follow those sparkly snow dogs you saw in the trailer and see if they know another way out.<br />
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Luke and Kylo battle, Luke tells him that if he strikes him down he'll become more powerful than he could possibly imagine. He also says that if he strikes him down in anger now, "I'll always be with you. Just like your father." Kylo doesn't like that. Anyway, if you pay close attention, you notice that while everyone and everything that touches the ground on this planet turns it from white to red, but Luke's movements do no such thing. And eventually Kylo realizes he is not really there and Luke gives him a "See ya 'round, kid." And just disappears. Kylo is, once again, thrown into a toddler tantrum rage and runs back to his ship.<br />
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Poe and the others find a tunnel out the back to escape but there are all these rocks that make it impossible to get out. But guess who shows up on the other side? It's Rey! And she discovers, out loud, that saving her friends requires moving rocks with the Force, which I guess we're supposed to find all ironic and stuff since Luke had said before that that's not what it was about, except right now I guess it is. Anyway she gets them out, she and Finn are reunited briefly, which is sweet but will surely anger the Finn and Rey fans because they get about 90 seconds of screen time together. Everyone who is left escapes to the Falcon, including Leia.<br />
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But after Luke disappears, we see that he is still on that island, he never left, and he was simply using the Force to project himself across the galaxy. Again, we are left wondering just what else the Force can do. But this comes at a cost, as Luke then dies all alone on that island. Man, poor Luke. Talk about a crappy life. I think Mark did an excellent job with what he was given, but I can also see why he is not at all shy about disagreeing with the direction Luke was taken in. This is not the guy we knew before who would do anything for his friends. Just like Han.<br />
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Luke is dead, Leia knows, and now Leia has lost him as well. They are so low on people to take away from Leia that they even had to introduce us to a new one (Holdo) just to have someone else to take away from her. Leia at least gets a big hug from Chewie. Then at the end she has a brief but very sweet moment with Rey when Rey asks how they can rebuild the Resistance, because in this movie, they lose almost all of it. I mean, apparently all that is left of the Resistance by the time the credits roll fit comfortably on the Falcon with space to spare. Leia takes Rey's hand and says, "We have everything we need right here." Which even now sort of makes me want to cry, because I knew this was Leia's final moment, and she is being Leia, and holding out hope, and yet we know she has to be dead in the next movie. It's heartbreaking.<br />
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So that is pretty much the end. Actually it should have been the end, but instead they went back briefly to these kids who were on that casino planet and there is this little moment where we see one of them can use the Force as he calls a broom to his hand. I guess it's fine that we are learning that yes, there is hope for future Jedi, but they missed the mark on the perfect point to end the movie with the Falcon flying through hyperspace and Leia telling us they can rebuild and still win.<br />
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Ok, obviously a lot going on here. Did I like the movie all that much? Not really. But I didn't overtly dislike it either. I think there are enough moments to it, like Luke and Leia, that might make some general fans happy. But I also really feel like for anyone who wasn't already heartbroken by TFA, and for anyone who was still kind of into it, this could've been a huge disappointment, and will break their hearts in a way that TFA did to a lot of us. Why? Because of Luke. They really, really destroy Luke's character, just like Han was destroyed in the last one. And I can see that making a lot of people very, very angry. And I don't blame them. I used up all my anger two years ago, so this didn't really get to me because it was pretty much what I was expecting.<br />
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One other complaint I've seen that I have to agree with is that this was a very long movie that didn't really seem to further the plot along at all from the last one. Sure, Rey got some training, but she has always behaved as someone who just knows what she is doing anyway without any training, and thinking about it now, I'm not sure that Luke taught her anything really aside from "The Force isn't about lifting rocks" only to find out at the end of the movie that yeah, sometimes the Force totally IS about lifting rocks. Kylo again gets this benefit of the doubt about being "conflicted" without showing much sign of conflicting feelings aside from killing Snoke. Which, by the way, makes him the new Supreme Leader, so even that was pretty self serving. Finn and Rose's subplot was drawn out and pointless. I guess I enjoyed Poe, but this whole long subplot about his mutiny and kind of learning his lesson about not being impulsive didn't really serve that much purpose either. Except I guess maybe that he was the one who decided rather than trying to fight with Luke they should escape? That was probably the reason, but again, Luke should've just TOLD him that was his intention because he definitely had the opportunity to do so. Even if he didn't do it in person he could've, you know, sent those thoughts to Leia while he was busy with Kylo. You can't have him use the Force for all these amazing things only to have him NOT use it for something so simple that might save their lives.<br />
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We're also kind of left at the end of this movie thinking, ok but like, what now? What do we even hope to see in Episode IX? There is no clear answer here. At the end of the last one it was obvious we were going to pick up right when the last one left off. If we go back to the OT, ANH left off like it could've been the end and a stand alone movie, so nobody really needed to think about what was next. At the end of ESB obviously our priority was getting Han back, and finding out what it meant that Vader was Luke's father and hey, we need to defeat the Empire. But here? I just don't know. I mean, I guess that the Resistance should take down the First Order, although they have a TON of work to do. I don't know what I want for our heroes. What do we want for Rey? Aside from those of us who DON'T want her to wind up with Kylo? We don't want Kylo to turn. Or at least at the end of this movie they make us hate him, again, so much that we don't want that. Leia has nothing to really look forward to and we know that Carrie is gone anyway. We don't know what we want for Poe at all. Maybe we're supposed to want Finn and Rose's relationship to blossom? But that was tossed in so quickly at the end, I honestly don't care what happens there. And as individuals I don't know what we want with these people either. Based on the timelines, I think between the first and second movies it covers like, a couple of days. So it's not like these people are so entrenched in each others' lives that we should want them to be friends forever. They barely know each other. <br />
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I'm not sure what else to say about it right now. And I think my thoughts may even change in the coming days or weeks or even months before I figure out how I truly feel about it. But I think part of it is that this time I can watch this with much more emotional attachment. I expected so much out of Episode VII only to have my heart ripped out. I expected nothing out of this movie, so I could be a lot more detached and just be like, ok, so this is a sort of entertaining movie with a whole lot of plot holes, which makes it a fairly average movie. If I spend a lot of time thinking about Luke I'll probably get mad. But again, Mark did a great job getting back into it. I can't understand how anyone could still feel any sympathy for Kylo. Hux is reduced to a bumbling idiot which makes you wonder how he got to his role in the first place. Finn is himself, Rose was a nice addition I guess although again, sort of unnecessary and her inclusion in that mission was WAY too easy and convenient. Poe was cool here I guess but again not super interesting. Carrie was wonderful and eventually when I process it more I'm probably finally going to cry about that. Oh and Laura Dern was fine, but again, I wish they had mentioned IN THE MOVIE that she had been a childhood friend of Leia to give that some more resonance.<br />
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Would love to hear others' opinions on it. I don't think this was a bash-fest like last time. I am not even sure I'd blame anyone for liking this. To me it didn't have as much to hate. But the plot stuff was kind of out of control and much of it didn't make sense to me. Although when I really think about it the entire plan to break Han out of Jabba's doesn't really make much sense. I will say that if given the choice right now I'd probably watch this over TFA. Because this way I don't have to watch Han get murdered by his son. Luke dying just didn't get me the same way, probably because first, I expected it. Second, he's a Jedi, so he can be in the next money as much if not more than he was in this one. So, yeah, he's dead, but nothing changes there. Plus when Han died, he still had some hope left for his future with Leia. It's not like Luke would've lived on to have a great life. It was just like Obi Wan dying.<br />
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I have to note too that now I am more convinced than I have been since I saw Daisy's picture the first time that she is Han and Leia's daughter. I admit I could be very wrong. But something about how Kylo threw in her face how she was nobody and her parents were nobody made me think he was lying. Discussing this after the movie with my cohorts, we were split on this. Half of us think it is obvious she is Han and Leia's, and half of us think she is definitely nobody. I do wonder if their plans here would be changed after Leia is going to have to be gone. But also, they keep on telling us that these movies are about family, and if Leia is gone too, and Rey is nobody, then nobody left is anyone's family! <br />
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So, there you go. I do have to also disclose that I knew basically all the spoilers going in. So that perhaps took some of the edge off. I am normally not a spoilers person, but after having my heart ripped out in TFA, I didn't want to do that again. I think that maybe helped me be less disappointed, especially in the fact that we have a lot of questions that are STILL unanswered. I also still have no problem with any of the new people. I just wish they'd give them all a better story and something with more resonance. I think it will be notable that there is something missing in the next one though without Han or Luke or Leia as a part of it.<br />
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I'm sure I'll have other things to say, but needed to get all of this out! Feel free to ask me anything as well. <br />
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<br />Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com96tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-69306554755044067292017-12-10T19:00:00.003-06:002017-12-10T19:00:47.238-06:00The Last Jedi: How Are You Coping? ***SPOILERS allowed!!!!****Hey, guys. Yes, it's been quiet around here, I know. I have kind of intentionally avoided discussing this, but I think it's unavoidable at this point. First, as stated above, spoilers are allowed here. I have read some things already but won't really comment on specific things, because we don't know entirely yet. But if anyone wishes to include spoilers in comments, I just want to be up front that this is not going to be a "safe space" for anyone trying to avoid spoilers. Ok, so we got that out of the way...<br />
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I think by now everyone probably knows my opinion of how things have gone. I have had zero hope that anything good would come out of a follow-up to what happened in the last movie, and I continue to hold that belief. What are the rest of you doing about it? Are you excited about it? Cautiously optimistic? Just kind of curious? Like me are you going to see it anyway out of a feeling of obligation but not expecting to enjoy it? Or have you felt so burned by the whole thing that you aren't going to see it at all? I'm very interested in the different directions people are going with it.<br />
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As I mentioned, I will be going to see it. Opening night, in fact. It's become kind of a family tradition that would be difficult to break at this point. And let's be honest, no matter what, I was going to see it anyway, eventually. Might as well get it over with the first night.<br />
<br />
TFA gutted me. We all know that. Not that I'm proud of my reaction to a fictional universe, but I was up all night after I saw it and cried myself to sleep when I finally managed to fall asleep at like 5am, and I think I cried myself to sleep at least the next night, if not also the night after that. For a long time I had felt as though they couldn't really make things worse for someone like me, a Han and Leia (and OT in general) fan, but the closer it gets, the more I am starting to feel like yes, there is still room for them to make things worse, and for me to have to deal with a similar emotional reaction.<br />
<br />
And of course we all know this is Carrie's last movie. That will be painful as well. It's still just so incredibly sad that she is gone, but maybe easier to forget about it when she isn't right in the forefront of our minds. But even just seeing her notable absence in all the publicity stuff has been hitting pretty hard.<br />
<br />
Lastly, yes I've read some spoilers. Not sure which ones are true although honestly, pretty much any spoiler and rumor last time turned out to be true, and I don't expect this to be different. None of it is all that surprising. Although it still sort of hurts to have it confirmed and know what we may be in for. It still sounds fairly hopeless and bleak. The only good thing is that what I've heard so far does not seem to make anything any worse for Han and Leia. Not that it would've been easy to do, or that it would've made sense given Han is no longer with us. But still, I am reaching for some bright spots here. Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com68tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-16831901478005396822017-11-03T11:17:00.005-05:002017-11-03T11:18:43.426-05:00Story Submission: Got Your Number By Kels<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: red;"><i>Thanks to Kels for this story submission, inspired by those lovely photos of the two of them dancing and smiling at each other.</i></span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqcyyNsWGyHVTDnT5NTBEx5uiYxJ4T7DnkmD7XWWrgmlwax2uLMHNDLzwbPzT3BgnmI5sPQoMDD6pneoiJXIOh9K9rhe_ngS1_dnl6lK1OpcHrcdb9dJmNgd6iz8mOjf_32cjGFdDBf0p/s1600/dancing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRqcyyNsWGyHVTDnT5NTBEx5uiYxJ4T7DnkmD7XWWrgmlwax2uLMHNDLzwbPzT3BgnmI5sPQoMDD6pneoiJXIOh9K9rhe_ngS1_dnl6lK1OpcHrcdb9dJmNgd6iz8mOjf_32cjGFdDBf0p/s1600/dancing.png" /></a></div>
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Han noticed the slight frown that
passed over his wife’s face as he grabbed her hand and led her to the dance
floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d hoped that the Samorian wine
they’d both downed would have relaxed her by now, but he supposed that the
bonds of motherhood outweighed even the rapid impact that gained Samorian wine its
galaxy-wide reputation.</div>
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“Sweetheart,” he said, taking her
into his arms, careful to place his arm higher on her back than he really
wanted to, as he had learned that to do otherwise at these occasions often led
to a wifely stink-eye, “if anything was wrong with the kids, you would know.”</div>
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“I know,” Leia sighed. Jax was only
four months old, though, and although they had left Luke and Adria more milk,
food, diapers, instructions, toys, medicine, and changes of clothes than anyone
could possibly need to watch a 2-year-old and a baby for one night, she still
felt the pang of leaving her little boy at home overnight without her for the
first time.</div>
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“They’re with a Jedi Knight and a
medic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re in better hands than they
ever are with us.”</div>
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Leia laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had her there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their children were probably the safest kids
in the galaxy right about now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s
Luke and Adria I’m worried about,” she giggled, feeling the wine start to kick
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“One night with our offspring may
stop that relationship cold.”</div>
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“Our kids?” Han laughed. “Nah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re perfect, quiet, easygoing little
angels, just like us.”</div>
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“Exactly,” she agreed. “They’re
just like us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is why Luke and
Adria are in trouble,” Leia sighed contentedly in Han’s arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Intoxicants…I had almost forgotten how
wonderful they are.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Han burst out laughing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I thought that sigh was for me!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“It was,” she said, innocently.
“You AND the wine.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Nice save, but I’m not quite
buying it,” he parried, spinning her away before they collided with a six-armed
Gatorin and his mate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they found some
space in a less crowded area on the dance floor, Leia noticed that more than a
few of the other guests were glancing at them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, she realized with a flare of pride, they were sneaking looks
at Han, and this time it wasn’t only the human females, who had always looked
at him as if he were a particularly appealing piece of eye-candy. Thankfully
the human female behind Leia was a bit ostentatiously ignoring them both. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Leia had often wondered when and if
Han’s reputation from both the war and his test piloting would be enough to
sway people’s attention from her, and, tonight – at least in this crowd, at the
wedding of one of Han’s favorite pre-flight mechanics, Zev – that shift in
attention finally seemed to be happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She felt some relief, as it always worried her that one day Han would
get sick of the long shadow she cast – a shadow that she felt, after everything
he had achieved, he had no reason to still be standing in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“They’re all looking at you,
hotshot,” Leia said matter-of-factly. “Better fix your tie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, that tie you’ve been grumbling
about all night.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She grinned, thinking how generous she was
being in assigning his grumbling about his attire to only this night, when he’d
been grumbling about it ever since Zev had asked if Han would stand as his
witness at the Veluskian marriage ceremony, with which came the obligation to
wear the formal attire of the Velusk people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Nah,” he replied. “They’re lookin’
at the hottest chick in the room.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Hottest chick?” Leia snorted.
“Short and round-faced still-losing-baby-weight mother-of-two.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Hottest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chick. In. The. Room,” Han repeated slowly,
his face inches from hers, his knuckles brushing gently along her cheek, his
smile at its most brilliant, and, even better, deployed only for her enjoyment.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Dammit,” Leia laughed out loud as
her knees went weak enough for Han to feel her falter. “How can you still do
that to me after all these years, Solo?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“I just have your number, Your
Worship,” he replied.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Yes,” she agreed, her smile
matching his in brilliance. “You definitely have my number. And I have yours.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“You’ve had mine for a very, very
long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But tonight, I’ve also got
twelve hours alone with you in a hotel after this shindig, and I intend to have
your number over and over and over.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Is that a promise?” She stood on
her toes to rub her nose against his.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Oh yes, Leia, that is a promise.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Then why is your hand so decorously
high on my back when it is usually so inappropriately low?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
He immediately slid his hand down
to the small of her back. “You’re saying you actually want it here tonight<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
“Damn right, Solo,” she grinned.
“Damn right.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-33356303825340709032017-10-29T19:29:00.001-05:002017-10-29T19:29:10.097-05:00Edge of Victory I: Conquest: The Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOa1WCzljWO64LwyBRLk-ZUQ7U0vWtRfR4mGJkeI92zGblK1YmPrZ-F6tjjGyrzgGAl_WAflk4GasjgNPXYP_yM5LLK6aDTBF_d3tcmiCGfv91DFOG21ojmIF4AfeEfJtDCT6Si02yHRd/s1600/conquest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="645" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOa1WCzljWO64LwyBRLk-ZUQ7U0vWtRfR4mGJkeI92zGblK1YmPrZ-F6tjjGyrzgGAl_WAflk4GasjgNPXYP_yM5LLK6aDTBF_d3tcmiCGfv91DFOG21ojmIF4AfeEfJtDCT6Si02yHRd/s400/conquest.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
Welcome back to the second least active place for Han and Leia fans on the internet. And now we return to the EU book reviews, and since we do these in order, this one certainly isn't going to help very much in gaining interest, because Han and Leia aren't even in it. At all. They are mentioned, usually unfavorably, but that's it. Great. The good news is that the fact that Han and Leia aren't in it should make for a pretty quick review, certainly with very few quotes.<br />
<br />
So, this is totally an Anakin Solo book. It focuses almost entirely on him alone and his story. It was so nice of them to give him a book right before they killed him off, wasn't it? So, we begin by being reminded that the Jedi are in trouble. Basically the Vong want them all dead, and there is a group called the Peace Brigade which sounds like a nice name for a group of people who want pretty bad things. Basically they want to help round up the Jedi and sacrifice them to the Vong so that the Vong will leave everyone else alone. Nice, right?<br />
<br />
Then we are with Luke and several of the Jedi, mainly including Kyp and the Solo children, who aren't really children anymore as we're reminded that Anakin is 16 and the twins are 18. Basically Kyp thinks it's insane that Luke just wants to sit back and "defend" since they are Jedi and thinks it's time they step up and really start looking out for themselves. This is why I'm never totally clear on what counts as "defense" or not. I mean, in A New Hope Obi Wan slices someone's arm off just because he was going to fight Luke a little bit. Maybe try starting with a little Force push and then see if you need to escalate to severing an arm? Maybe? I don't know. Anyway...<br />
<br />
Kyp thinks it's time to start going on the offensive, looking out for their own. Jedi for Jedi, as he puts it. Luke, of course, disagrees. The argument gets them nowhere and then Kyp tells Jaina and Anakin that their uncle is turning into Obi Wan and getting lost in philosophy at the expense of action. Anakin is starting to think he's right, and they even discuss Jacen's unwillingness to use the Force except when it came to saving his own mother. Kyp leaves Anakin and Jaina alone and Jacen then comes to join them. He agrees with Luke, which leaves him and Anakin on opposing sides and Jaina insists that they stop arguing. They discuss where the Jedi may be most vulnerable if the Vong were to target anything specifically, and Anakin has a very strong feeling that they might go after the praxeum on Yavin Four, which happens to be where his best friend Tahiri is, along with many other young Jedi in training.<br />
<br />
Now we go to a quiet moment between Luke and Mara. During this time she shares a whole bunch of cliches about how miserable pregnancy is and that she should want to kill Luke and that he is never, ever allowed to do this to her again. I suppose we should be glad that Leia never said stuff like that to Han when she was pregnant. Mara is a lot less into the pregnancy thing, but then this one wasn't planned and it generally seems like the Solo kids were, so maybe that makes a difference. Luke uses the line, "How can I please you, sweetheart?" which only made me really glad that a sentence like that would never come out of Han Solo's mouth, unless he was trying to be sarcastic.<br />
<br />
Anyway, they discuss how Luke is worried about Anakin, because he has been through so much at such a young age and Luke thinks that Anakin still believes Han blames him for Chewie's death. And that Anakin is still pretty angry about some things and he is an awful lot like Kyp. But he still thinks he's immortal. Oh don't worry, just a couple more books and he will find out exactly how not immortal he is. They discuss how Anakin and Jacen didn't have normal childhoods and both had very different reactions to the same situation. After they are done talking about how Luke is very worried about what might happen, the Solo kids show up.<br />
<br />
They tell Luke of their worries about Yavin Four, and Luke thinks they are probably right but that there isn't much they can do about it at the moment. Apparently Karrde is on his way to help evacuate the students but they have to just wait. After Luke tells them to just leave it, Anakin proves he is such a Solo by totally not listening to him and taking it upon himself to go to Yavin Four anyway. He's mad because all the adults he knows still treat him like a kid when he totally isn't one. He thinks the only one who really understands him is Mara, since she also was never truly a child. But since he knows Tahiri, his best friend is in trouble, he doesn't even hesitate.<br />
<br />
Almost immediately upon Anakin's arrival, a fleet from the Peace Brigade shows up. Anakin gets down to the planet and first finds Kam Solusar, who is in charge, and very quickly finds Tahiri, who is not at all happy with him because apparently he's totally been doing that guy thing of not at all keeping in touch. He notices that she is starting to look a lot more grown up now that she is all of 14 years old. She doesn't want to let him out of her sight but he thinks they should be separated as he doesn't want to see anything happen to her.<br />
<br />
So Anakin clearly has a lot of guilt as he discusses how so many people have died because of him, including Chewbacca.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"My grandfather was Darth Vader, and he killed billions. But that was after deícades of the dark side. I'm only sixteen, and look what I've done. Darth Vader would be proud."</i><br />
<br />
Ouch. This kid has some issues to work out. He is told those deaths were not his fault, and then he says that he wanted to kill all of the Vong at Centerpoint and would've if his brother hadn't stopped him. But in the end, it really was his own decision. He still feels like he should've done it though. Lots of tension and Tahiri being mad that Anakin hasn't said anything to her for a while, and Anakin totally looking at her differently than what used to just be his childhood friend.<i> </i>Anakin and Tahiri get separated, Anakin is with some other Jedi and a pilot for the Peace Brigade who mentions the plan to turn the Jedi over.<br />
<br /><i></i>
Now Luke is trying to get the help of the New Republic and Borsk Fey'lya, who has really zero interest in aiding them in any way. So Jacen and Jaina are going to go and help out while Luke and Mara have to stay behind. And I forgot that the twins didn't know Mara was pregnant until they find out in this book and are of course happy for her and excited they are finally getting a cousin.<br />
<br /><i></i>
So Anakin decides he needs to trek back to find Tahiri, who has been captured by the Vong and is basically being tortured by the shapers. Sounds fun, huh? Anyway, he finds and sort of befriends a "shamed" Vong who needs to go to the same place as Anakin and they are working together so Anakin is going to act as his slave. He has to hide inside the belly of a beast, literally, and then there is this briefly cute little bit:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>He was reminded of the story of how his mother and father had met, on the Death Star, a story he'd heard far too many times. Seconds after seeing each other for the first time, they'd ended up fleeing stormtroopers into a garbage hold. <br /><br /> "What an incredible smell you've discovered," his fa - ther had sarcastically told his future wife. He hadn't been very happy with her at the time. <br /><br /> I've found a better smell than you did, Mom, he thought.</i><br />
<br />
I just think it's cute that he apparently heard that story a lot growing up. Anyway, lots of trekking and Vong stuff and eventually Anakin finally gets to the Vong who have Tahiri and she has been brainwashed to think she is one of them and Anakin has to bring her back and make her realize he is not just a dream and he tells her that he loves her. Aw, so of course that makes her realize he's really there. Anyway, of course they escape, this time in a Vong ship that Tahiri has to fly because they are sort of living beings and now she kind of knows their language, and they wind up of course meeting up with Karrde and Kam with the rest of the young Jedi who need to evacuate.<br />
<i> </i><br /><i></i><br />
Jacen and Jaina show up to help the battle so that everyone can escape and all the Solo children are back together again and everyone is safe. Anakin and Jacen have a discussion about how Anakin still feels that the solution is to fight, while Jacen of course thinks that is a bad idea but does wrinkle his forehead in such a way that apparently makes him look just like Han. Anakin and Tahiri are good again even though she has been through quite a lot, and that is pretty much it.<br />
<br />
So, the Han and Leia factor for this book is pretty simple since they are not in it at all: 0. Flat out zero. It's not a terrible book, but if you are in this for the Han and Leia then you'd be really, really disappointed. It's just sad that this is just about Anakin's last book, and reminds you what a huge waste his entire character was. The only good news I have to offer you is that I already read the next book and Han and Leia are in it quite a bit and there are several nice moments there. The bad news is there are also several moments where people seem to be pretty judgy about their parenting. I guess we can't have everything.<br />
<br />
I figured writing a review for a book Han and Leia weren't even in wouldn't be as time consuming, but it pretty much was exactly as time consuming!Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-91791093292311342562017-10-20T02:39:00.000-05:002017-10-20T02:39:02.417-05:00Can We Talk About These Photos? And Can One of You Write a Story Inspired By Them?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QJMS59-G3hSedXLN9kOPZgTLewazFu4INwiNwKoQ3zszMOe0LIex2MtCLa1_8Tk8EcwfmaVZRfTPIDuTlTztX0ZUjCLAbNn6EJ2PuBgqpg8mDaC_ifQ70HCxjrvOTqVTJd-LTuj44PG6/s1600/dancing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="500" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_QJMS59-G3hSedXLN9kOPZgTLewazFu4INwiNwKoQ3zszMOe0LIex2MtCLa1_8Tk8EcwfmaVZRfTPIDuTlTztX0ZUjCLAbNn6EJ2PuBgqpg8mDaC_ifQ70HCxjrvOTqVTJd-LTuj44PG6/s400/dancing.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJyLLpdCWVRbb5gbDPl-9_fz1F4Xzsq5l_L752yZh_-KZYjPa7DQZV4Tk4AeBF2r9F_J9Ag1hMmvmAasv1aELVz0uhybLuVdoqPcAccMOKdup72qKZFx7MTzAKRaMldHecKN9O1KyoCCZ/s1600/dancing2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="500" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUJyLLpdCWVRbb5gbDPl-9_fz1F4Xzsq5l_L752yZh_-KZYjPa7DQZV4Tk4AeBF2r9F_J9Ag1hMmvmAasv1aELVz0uhybLuVdoqPcAccMOKdup72qKZFx7MTzAKRaMldHecKN9O1KyoCCZ/s400/dancing2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Ok, I'm behind because I have been busy, so you guys are probably all like... oh, we've been looking at these pictures for weeks. Where have YOU been? I'm betting though that nobody will ever get tired of these being brought back up. I think I'd rather not spend too much time dwelling on the real-life aspects of this. Honestly I recently re-read The Princess Diarist and somehow it is both more and less depressing now that Carrie is gone. I will say that to me these photos do not look like two people who are just friends whose affair has ended. But again, I don't really want to debate any of that, because the one person who may have told us the truth is gone. So, anyway...<br />
<br />
Can we just pretend this is Han and Leia? And can someone write a nice little story to go along with it? Maybe they're dancing at someone's wedding. Or a big celebration of the victory. Heck I could even pretend this goes with a story I wrote of them dancing. I said this to more than one person, that first, I almost can't believe these photos exist. And once again it makes me wonder what gems are still hiding and may one day be unearthed for our viewing pleasure. Second, I find these photos adorable. But also sad. But kind of almost too adorable to be sad. Like they just look so happy that I almost can't be sad to think about what "truth" may lie behind them, or the fact that Carrie is no longer with us, and what fun we'd have had Tweeting them to her and waiting for her to comment. So, well, let's just pretend it's Han and Leia and let this offer a nice visual.Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-37704317172969211592017-09-27T10:45:00.002-05:002017-09-27T10:45:23.614-05:00Random Stuff You Didn't Notice About Star Wars Until You'd Already Seen it a Bunch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4mtIk1wBQzXDb6RySb7uXialFdKC_LU1qj5yvqt-QrOkdZ5I1X0BA6IIUTIgYU9R_CqRZ34jw7INO6fEbtJOFzQZWlXX-BVR6wOJnGT3a6lWaqxnd80GeDzJzhU2ariuRoShdH7H-Lzb/s1600/hanleia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="496" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4mtIk1wBQzXDb6RySb7uXialFdKC_LU1qj5yvqt-QrOkdZ5I1X0BA6IIUTIgYU9R_CqRZ34jw7INO6fEbtJOFzQZWlXX-BVR6wOJnGT3a6lWaqxnd80GeDzJzhU2ariuRoShdH7H-Lzb/s400/hanleia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Things have been kind of quiet. Or at least here, they have been. I think maybe we could use a random, light-hearted discussion. I think it's safe to say that most of us who read here have watched these movies multiple times. For some of us it has been a lifelong thing. For others the movies didn't even come out until they were a little older. For some maybe they didn't even discover it until they were older, or until much recently. One of the most fascinating things to me is that no matter how many times I've seen these movies, I often still notice new things for the first time. Or maybe I just forget that I've seen them, because also it's totally possible I've done this topic before and I just forgot. I've been watching these movies since as far back as I can remember watching movies, and still, sometimes, I'm surprised to notice certain things. And some of you will probably be surprised/appalled at some of the stuff that I didn't notice until more recent viewings. These things include:<br />
<br />
-The fact that the lower half of one of Threepio's legs is silver, not gold. Ok, this one I didn't exactly only discover recently. But still probably didn't notice until a good 15 years into my Star Wars watching. I don't remember exactly why I noticed it for the first time, but I do remember my brother and my cousins thinking it was crazy that I had never noticed that.<br />
<br />
-Leia spins Han around to talk to Jabba because he is facing the wrong way. How could I not notice a Han and Leia thing? I don't know. Seriously, I didn't notice that not only did she spin him around, but she ducked under his arm. It's so adorable and subtle and funny, and I watched that movie for years before noticing. Again, not super recently did I first notice this, but more recently than I'd have thought.<br />
<br />
-Han grabs Leia's hand as he tries to shoot Vader. This is another one of those subtle things, and in fairness his non-shooting hand is mostly hidden and it is so subtle it kind of makes sense for me to not have noticed that at first. Of course now I think it is just another one of those wonderful, subtle little things, that even though Han is focused on killing Darth Vader, he still makes the conscious decision to reach back and grab Leia's hand. (ok, wrist, but whatever)<br />
<br />
-Leia in the background talking to random Rebels when Han is talking to Lando just before Mon Mothma's briefing in ROTJ. This isn't really that big of a deal, but this one I only first noticed REALLY recently. Like within the last two years, probably. Han and Lando are talking, and Leia is hanging behind them talking to some other guys. It's just kind of funny to me to see her basically appearing more like a background extra.<br />
<br />
-Luke in ESB when he jumps down off a ledge during the Vader fight, bounces back into the frame since clearly Mark jumped down onto a trampoline. That one I didn't even notice until I was reading bloopers. And really, how did that go unnoticed for so long? It's not even subtle, he bounces right on back up into the frame. And yet of all the ridiculous things they "fixed" on subsequent re-releases, that moment remains.<br />
<br />
-Harrison mouths Carrie's lines along with her when she says, "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited." This is another one I don't think I noticed on my own until someone told me about it. Also another one that I have known about for a while, but still probably watched the movie over and over for about 15 years before seeing it, and now I can't unsee it.<br />
<br />
-Leia's blood on Han's fingertips when he puts his hand up after briefly tending to Leia's wound in ROTJ. I know, this is really minor. For movies that do contain a fair bit of violence, they are very much lacking in blood. There is blood in ANH when Obi Wan cuts that walrus man's arm off. Luke bleeds a bit after the Wampa attack and also after his fight with Vader. (Although, weirdly, not from where his hand was cut off.) Of course Han never bleeds. Like I said, very small thing but for some reason it took me a lot of views to notice that.<br />
<br />
-Chewie makes a Tarzan noise when he swings on the vine with the Ewoks to the AT-ST in ROTJ. Another one that was pointed out to me by my brother and cousins, a while ago but still after we had watched the movies dozens of times. It's not even subtle, but for some reason I didn't notice. It's pretty dumb and really doesn't make sense, but whatever.<br />
<br />
That's all I can think of for now. What about you guys, anything you didn't notice until much later? Big or small, doesn't really matter. I'm sure there are others because I feel like very time I watch I notice some little thing, maybe a brief line or action from Threepio, or something in the background. Stuff that should've been totally obvious but somehow you missed. Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-80939827945197098832017-09-14T12:31:00.003-05:002017-09-14T12:36:19.018-05:00Universal Fanfic Truth: Luke Wants to Tell Everyone About Vader - Guest Post By Erma<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1505410201409_2110">
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<br />
<br />
Hi
everyone. Zyra kindly offered that I could write a post on a question I
brought to her. There is that delightful post on the blog about
Universal Han and Leia Fanfic Truths, but my question didn't quite fit
there. So here we are.</div>
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It
hit me the other day that one "universal truth" in Star Wars fanfic is
that Luke wants to share the news about Vader's return to the light with
the whole galaxy, whereas Leia thinks sharing would be an awful idea.
This sets up a tension between the two of them that affects all three of
them, Han included. But. Why do we assume this, especially on the part
of Luke?</div>
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From
the movies, we know that Luke didn't tell Leia about his parentage
until after he learned she was his sister, some many months after
finding out in Bespin. Even when he did tell her, he wasn't suggesting
that she come and help him; in fact, it seemed clear that he felt Leia
still needed to help the Rebellion win the war, perhaps the old
fashioned way (by fighting, not trying to redeem the bad guys). It's not
even clear that Luke intended to ever tell Leia; she was the one that
sought him out, after all (though arguments could be made that he knew
she would follow him out to that bridge). Nor did Luke reach out to Han.
So from what we see in the movie, it seems pretty clear that even
though Luke felt personally compelled to try and save his father, he was
pretty clear that not everyone would share his conviction, and that it
might be best to keep the truth secret.</div>
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It's
interesting (to me, anyways) that so many of us have felt that Luke
would then later want to tell all. Why? And, what if that wasn't the
case? How would it affect the dynamic with Leia and Han?</div>
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For
example. what if Leia's desire to keep Vader/Anakin a secret was in
part a reaction to Luke's wanting to tell everyone? After all, we often
see stories with Luke wanting to have a conversation with Leia, which
often has the effect of pushing Leia to avoid it. So if Luke instead
wanted to continue keeping Vader/Anakin a secret, might Leia have
responded differently? Would she have sought support, or a kind of
absolution? Might she have felt honor bound to reveal their parentage to
someone in the Rebellion leadership? (Rieekan, Mon Mothma?) How would
this have impacted the dynamic with Han? If Leia wanted to tell others,
would Han have cared? Etc, etc.</div>
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Anyways,
I'm bringing this here because it's fun to explore assumptions, and
because LoveThis! asking about my assumptions in the earlier post about
the new Princess Leia book inspired me. I thought it might be
interesting to unpack this particular set of assumptions with you all. </div>
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Full
disclosure. This particular universal truth came to me while pondering
writing my own version of Leia telling Han about Vader. Now, that story
is so unformed that it probably won't get written in the next few years,
if at all, so I'm not posing these questions as a way to do research or
anything. At the same time, it would be silly to think that any
discussion here wouldn't influence the story, should it ever get
written, so I just want to be open. Note: if the story ever does get
written, I'll just make sure to credit this conversation! :)</div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-39278595872214719572017-08-31T20:41:00.001-05:002017-08-31T20:41:45.918-05:00Happy Force Friday!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz-hxVJP7_6Ncby840ppjdcD9a_Lxvc2LSWhKOwtHfzA4dkOrSooPqh7AZwUmbfG53q6wcR-fZr93L3tgVF4omh4bbQm9BkSa-6myVLJfYIqz-llg0WzIn6rLzrn8FaVT2IqSTSlxr7Ky/s1600/force.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="1600" height="123" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoz-hxVJP7_6Ncby840ppjdcD9a_Lxvc2LSWhKOwtHfzA4dkOrSooPqh7AZwUmbfG53q6wcR-fZr93L3tgVF4omh4bbQm9BkSa-6myVLJfYIqz-llg0WzIn6rLzrn8FaVT2IqSTSlxr7Ky/s400/force.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
So, apparently it is the second annual Force Friday. What is Force Friday, you might be asking? I don't really know. As far as I can tell it is a marketing ploy and an excuse to sell us more stuff. Although I don't know about you, but lately I've been a lot less interested in purchasing Star Wars merchandise. Largely because so much of it now is all the "new" movies stuff. Although I did just see that apparently there is a new Lego Millennium Falcon coming out, and it is over 7,000 pieces and the largest Lego set ever created. Also, $800. The only plus to it is that you are at least given the option of creating it to look like the original trilogy version, with the circular sensor dish, or the new one, with the rectangular. I was given a Millennium Falcon bluetooth speaker as a gift and I have to say that I was legitimately bummed out when I saw it had a rectangular sensor dish. I still use it, though.<br />
<br />
So, what has been going on with everyone? Any news you wish to share? As far as Star Wars news, I can only share some of my own thoughts. I mean first, there isn't much. Like, disturbingly not much. Does anyone else think it's insane that we are sitting here now only three-and-a-half months out from the movie and we have seen a grand total of ONE trailer? I am still not super interested in going to see the movie, but I do think it's rather odd that we haven't seen more from this. I also find it odd that while I actively tried to avoid spoilers for the last one, and JJ made such a huge deal about keeping everything a secret, I still kind of knew what was going to happen. And yet for this one, where they are still trying to keep it under wraps but haven't been quite so vocal about it (or maybe they have, and I have just not been paying attention) and I've even occasionally looked for things, I basically can't find anything.<br />
<br />
And yes, it still makes me sad that I am not really interested in anything about the new movie. There are all these articles coming out, and it just makes me sad for multiple reasons. What could've been, and it reminds me that we no longer have Carrie, either :( It's just kind of overall a bummer of a time to be a Star Wars fan.<br />
<br />
Then of course there has been the crazy news coming out of the movie that nobody wants, the Han Solo movie.<br />
<br />
Apparently there is a new book coming out about young Leia, anyone planning on reading it?<br />
<br />
Anyway, again, happy Force Friday, whatever that is. I guess another excuse to wear our Star Wars tshirts which isn't a bad thing. Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com368tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-40246766562424133912017-08-22T20:32:00.000-05:002017-08-22T20:33:45.132-05:00Another Recovery Missing Moment by JainaDurron7Here is another missing moment to fill in some of the gaps from Recovery. Thanks for the submission!<br />
<br />
<span id="yiv5810831849gmail-docs-internal-guid-c8b932c4-00ee-df67-b708-d6fe1b0f215f"></span><br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1926" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1925" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1924" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I want to sit with you."</span></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1926" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Han almost laughed aloud as he lowered her datapad to look at his wife. "What's that?"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Leia struggled to sit up in her medical bunk. She repeated, "I want to sit with you."</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1931" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Leia had been in recovery for just over a month now; her legs were still healing from an encounter with a gang of Yuuzhan Vong who had been in the middle of sacrificing Leia to their gods.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Han had nearly lost her.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1938" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Now, not only was Leia in the middle of a long physical recovery, but the two of them- together- were in the middle of a long recovery of their marriage. While some parts of it had been quick to heal, Han knew it would take a while for things between them to be comfortable again. It would be a while before Han could speak to her without her wincing as she remembered harsh words he'd screamed at her in grief and confusion. It would be a while before Han could speak or even look at her without feeling consumed by his own guilt. Leia seemed to be eager enough to fix things between them. It was like she'd missed him so much, she needed him at all times; she needed to know he was still there and that he would never leave her side again.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1955" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> And Han hated himself all the more because of it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2026" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He looked at her now, his gaze avoiding her swollen, purple legs. "Sweetheart, you're in no condition to leave that bed-"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2068" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Leia stopped him there with a deathly glare. "I've been lying in medbunks for a month now. Han, please, I just want to sit with you. Your chair looks so much more comfortable."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2087" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> While Han didn't doubt that his chair in her medroom looked much better than her own bed, Han knew that wasn't really the reason to her words. He chuckled a little. "Trust me; it's not as nice as it looks."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Leia shrugged. "I don't care. Han, just let me sit with you."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2101" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Han got up and stood at her side, gently pushing her back down on her bed. "You need to rest, first. That is, if you want to get out of this bed as much as you say you do."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2111" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Han!" Leia whined. She looked like she was so frustrated, she could burst into tears at any moment. It broke Han's heart. "I spent a month in a medbed on Corellia, then all of our time on the Falcon in either the medbunk there or the repulsor chair. I just want to sit with you, Han."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He really couldn't stand to see her so upset and Han could see how vulnerable she was in this rare moment. More than anything, Han wanted to concede to her wishes. If she felt anything like he did, Leia just wanted to be with him as they hadn't in so long. Because Han had left her. She just wanted to sit with him, sleep in the same bed as him like a normal married couple. Like they hadn't in months. Because Han had left her. And he would never do that to her again.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Han circled around her bed where Leia's fluid drip hung on a hook and more machines and tubes were stationed that were all connected to her. They were all hung on the same post and Han rolled the post to stand beside his chair. Leia's face brightened. Han returned to her side and slipped an arm beneath her shoulders. "This is going to hurt, sweetheart," he warned her even though she already knew.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> She repeated simple, "Han, I just want to sit with you."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2113" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without another thought, Han put his other arm under her legs and he lifted her out of the bunk. Leia screamed, but she silenced herself, burying her face in Han's shoulder so she could muffle her groan against his shirt. Carefully and slowly, Han sat down and kept his wife curled up in his lap. He held her in his arms like a child and when Leia looked up at his face with tears of pain dotting her cheeks, Han wiped them all away and laid a tender kiss on her forehead. Leia tilted her head back so his lips were now on hers. It was brief, short-lived, but- for now- it was a step forward.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "I missed you," she whispered, resting her head against his chest.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "I missed you too," Han responded and it wasn't a lie. He'd always subconsciously known he'd spent months away from Leia searching for something, searching for a peace in her heart that he didn't know how to achieve. Now, though, Han knew that that peace he'd been searching for was exactly what he'd left behind. He'd been searching for Leia without realizing it.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "You're never leaving me again, Solo," she said in a sort of slur. She was hyped up on so many painkillers, it killed Han.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "I know-"</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "No!" she vigorously shook her head and Han cupped her head in his hand to calm her. "I'm not letting you go. Never again, Han. Next time you want to run, I won't let you."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2114" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "I know you won't. And you should know I won't ever consider it again."</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "You won't," Leia agreed.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_1930" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="yiv5810831849gmail-kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Quickly enough, Leia fell asleep in his arms. Han cradled her close, whispering all the promises he could think of. </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2120" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm never leaving you again. You'll never be by yourself again. I'll always be there with you and the kids. I love you too much. I will never let anyone hurt you again. </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1503451608761_2118" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will hold you in my arms for the rest of our lives.</span></div>
Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-49000771144872188822017-08-03T18:41:00.002-05:002017-08-04T20:20:32.644-05:00A Missing Moment from Recovery by jediofgrace<span style="color: red;"><i>Anyone still here? It's been awfully quiet lately. Jediofgrace was awesome enough to send us a missing moments piece to fill in some of Recovery. So this is also your reminder that any missing moments from these books are strongly encouraged. </i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_1974">
<i>Author's
note: This is set during the short story Recovery by Troy Denning. If
you haven't read the book, briefly I will say Leia has been recovering
from severe leg wounds inflicted by the Yuuzahn Vong in the previous
book. In Recovery it talks about her doing her recovery exercises around
an empty pool, which seemed like a wasted opportunity to me. The first
few spoken lines are from the book, but then I take over. </i></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2082">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2085">
<div id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2084">
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2083">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2091">---</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2093">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2092">Leia took his shirt collar, and, unable to rise on her toes, started to pull him down to kiss her.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2117">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2119">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2118">"Not
so fast." Han disengaged himself and walked to the edge of the pool.
"If you want to do that, you're going to have to come over here," Han
said, holding his arms out for her.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2120">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2122">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2121">"You're going to make me work for it?"<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2123">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2124">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"Yep. Now c'mere."<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2125">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2127">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2126">She
walked towards him, her braces clanked as she walked, echoing in the
large room. She made it to him though, her heart melting just a little
as he allowed her to kiss him. It had been so long since they'd been
alone together and she had missed him. A lot. Too quickly he ended the
kiss as he pulled back to look at her.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2128">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2130">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2129">"How would you like to get out of those braces?"</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2132">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2131">"I'd
love to, but I thought you said I had to finish my exercises." She
wasn't sure why she was putting up a fuss! Her legs were shaking from
her effort of only a few laps around the edge of the pool. And while she
was thrilled to be able to put her arms around him, she also needed to
hold on to him to be able to keep herself standing upright.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2133">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"You do have to finish. But let's finish in the pool."<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2134">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">She looked at the water. "Han, I can't swim yet. I can hardly walk!"</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2135">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">He picked her up and took her to her chair, setting her down in it. Then he started unstrapping the braces from her legs.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2136">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"Han, it's okay, I'll finish my laps."<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2137">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"Do you trust me?" He stopped working and looked at her.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2138">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"Of course. I just-"</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2139">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2141">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2140">"All
right then." He dropped the last piece and sat down in front of her.
After removing his boots and socks, he rolled up his pant legs then
stood up and picked her up again.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2143">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2142">"In our clothes?" she said as he headed straight for the pool.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2145">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2144">"Well, someone could come in, so I figured you wouldn't want your clothes off. But if you do..."</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"No, I don't." Although she wouldn't mind such a scenario... if the doors were locked, that is.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2146">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2148">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2147">"Good."
He chuckled as he stepped down into the water. She felt him take each
step carefully as he couldn't see his feet with her in front of him. She
held him tightly as he was finally deep enough for her to feel the
water.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2149">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"Too cold?" he asked.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"No.
It feels good. I haven't been in a pool in a long time." She tried to
kick her feet, but she couldn't make much of a splash. Finally he was
deep enough that she felt like she was floating in his arms. Her legs
rejoiced with the temporary reprieve from the pain of gravity.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"There.
See? Not too bad. Your husband knows a thing or two." He gently let her
legs sink down, while holding her up with his arms around her waist.
She put her arms around his neck again as he walked slowly backwards,
letting her feel the water flow past them. "Try to move your legs." She
did. She put a small effort into making her legs do a swimming motion.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"><span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"This feels a lot better than the braces," she said. He raised her up enough to reach her lips and softly kissed her.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"That's your reward for trying."<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">She
smiled up at him. Loving the feeling of his arms holding her up. She
pulled against him to give herself enough leverage to wrap her legs
around him. It took her a few seconds, and she gave him a satisfied
smile when she finished. "I did it! Now I get another reward." He
laughed and pulled her close again. Kissing her longer this time, she
savored his lips and warm body pressed against her in the cool water.
Months of separation and stress seemed to evaporate as they reacquainted
themselves with each other. At last he pulled back, smiling down at
her.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"Let's
try this," he said as he turned her around so her back was against his
chest. He held her tightly again. "Kick those legs." She tried, but the
muscles needed to bring her legs to the surface were still too weak and
her tired legs were starting to burn. After a few more steps he seemed
to sense her struggle and stopped. He pulled her close, letting her legs
dangle, his arms still around her waist. He gently kissed her neck. She
leaned her head to the side, giving him all the access he wanted. His
fingers pulled the edge of her shirt up until he could slip his hands
underneath. "Hey, that's not fair," she said, pretending to pout. </span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"What's not?" His hands moved up her sides.</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"I
can't touch bottom so I'm stuck here while you have your fun." She kept
her arms very loose as she held his arms in front of her so he could
reach anything he felt like reaching.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"I
don't know what you're talking about." One of his hands slipped down to
her backside and back up. "I can touch your bottom just fine. Come on
now, kick those legs." His hand found the edge of her bra and quickly
ducked underneath. He continued to walk slowly backwards, keeping them
moving and also keeping them out too deep for her to touch.<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">"You'd
better be careful, hotshot. The doctor hasn't given me clearance for
any of your...special exercises yet." But oh how she wished she had...</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2150">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1">He
turned her around to face him again. His voice low, he said, "so you're
saying you'll work hard on your regular exercises and see if you can't
get clearance soon?"</span></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p2">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2156">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2155">"Are you saying you'll take me swimming again?"<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2157"> She would be talking to Cilghal today, for sure. </span></span></div>
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<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474p1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2153">
<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474s1" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1501803547438_2152">He kissed her before answering. "You bet I will. Come on now. Back to work. Kick kick kick."<span class="yiv9816538400m_1407635892946930474Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
</div>
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Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-13267632303302162382017-07-14T07:00:00.000-05:002017-07-14T14:13:30.942-05:00Recovery - The Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yay, here we are! Finally some good news for Han and Leia fans. I mean, first, look at the effort they put into the "cover" for this one. They swapped Han and Leia's faces to opposite sides so they're facing each other instead of facing away from each other. Symbolism! But truly, there really never was a real cover for this, because it was first published as an ebook, only available digitally and then later it was included in the paperback release of Star by Star as a prologue. I was always annoyed with the additions of ebooks to paperback editions, because typically I was on top of my book buying and would get them as soon as possible, which meant hardcover. In this case the paperback came out an entire year after the hard cover. I don't even really remember when I first heard about this, to be honest. And I'm positive that when I did, I really didn't even understand the concept of an ebook or how to even get it. So it was a while before I finally got to read it.<br />
<br />
From what most of us were led to believe, this was written to sort of appease a lot of fans who felt that Han and Leia's reconciliation was, well, sorely lacking. And I don't know exactly how Troy Denning made his way to writing Star Wars books, but it became apparent right away that anytime he was involved, a Han and Leia fan could rest easy in the knowledge that they were in good hands and would be treated appropriately. But now, on to the story....<br />
<br />
Han is with Leia on Corellia, about three weeks after the end of the last book, and Leia is still in very rough shape.<br />
<br />
<i>Han opaqued the transparisteel viewport, then stepped around the bed where his wife lay in a therapeutic coma, her eyelids rimmed by purple circles and her flesh as pallid as wampa fur. Though he had been assured Leia would survive, his heart still ached whenever he looked at her. He had almost lost her during the fall of Duro, and a stubborn series of necrotic infections continued to threaten her mangled legs-even more in doubt was their future together. She had greeted him warmly enough after they found each other again, but Chewbacca's death had changed too much for their marriage to continue as before-Han felt brittle now, older and less sure of his place in the galaxy. And in the few hours she had been coherent enough to talk, Leia had seemed hesitant, more tentative and reluctant to speak her mind around him.</i><br />
<br />
Ah, now this is more like it. Balance Point led us to believe that all they had to do was kiss and make up and everything would be great. He was gone for a year. He acted basically indifferent toward her for a year. I mean, of course she is going to be a little hesitant and not quite herself. He spent a year acting like anything but her husband, so I'm sure it's been a while since she even remembers what it's like for him to be that man. And this also reminds us that you can't just severely injure one of our heroes and leave them near death and jump ahead later to when they're totally fine again without telling us what happened in between.<br />
<i> </i><br />
So Han has basically been just waiting for bounty hunters to find them. The Jedi are being hunted, and his wife and kids are at the top of the list. They are in the med facility under assumed names. He hears some commotion outside Leia's room and prepares himself for the inevitable. There is a big skirmish here and Han takes out a few of them after he leads them to believe that another woman in a bacta tank is Leia. Then security guards show up and help Han out but Han winds up in trouble with a lot of them. But none of that is all that important, as somewhere in the middle of the chaos, after the shooting stops but before the yelling is over, Leia finally wakes up and struggles to get some words out.<br />
<br />
<i>Han immediately stopped arguing with the CorSec officer and came to her side. With hollow checks and bags under his eyes, he looked exhausted. <br /> </i><br />
<i>"You're awake," he said, perhaps overstating the case. "How do you feel?" <br /> </i><br />
<i>"Terrible," Leia said. Everything ached, and it felt like she had a hot power-feed around her legs.</i><br />
<br />
<i> </i>I'm sure all of us can picture worried and exhausted Han going over to Leia once she finally wakes up. She had thought someone was stealing things from her, and Han tells her that they have more important things to worry about. She of course wants to know what things, and he tells her not to worry.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"When you tell me not to worry, that's when I worry," Leia said. Han had always been one of those men who navigated life more by instinct than by chart...it was one of the things she most loved about him...but his instincts since Chewbacca's death had been carrying him into some very dangerous areas. Or perhaps the territory only seemed dangerous, lying, as it did always farther from Leia.</i><br />
<br />
I like this, too. I love that Leia knows this about him, and loves it about him. But it also makes sense for her to still not be entirely sure where she stands with him.<br />
<i> </i><br />
Now they get a visit from Han's cousin Thrackan, who of course he loves. They always have to mention that he looks just like him, except he has gray hair and a beard. They also note that Leia is probably the only person in the galaxy who despises his cousin more than Han does. Leia insults him a bit, proving that she has not completely lost her spirit. Then Thrackan says:<br />
<br />
<i>"I didn't know either of you was here until I saw on a newsvid that Han Solo had just killed three Corellian citizens." <br /><br /> "Sorry about that," Han said, not appearing sorry at all. </i><br />
<br />
Haha, yes, that sounds like Han. Then we continue:<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> Sal-Solo gave him a dark look, then looked back to Leia. <br /><br /> "There won't be any charges, provided you." <br /><br /> "Charges?" Han exclaimed. Even Leia could not tell whether he was angry or surprised, they been apart so long...and gone through so much alone...that she felt like she did not know him now.</i><br />
<br />
Aw, see while this is sad, it does make sense. A year is a long time to be apart like that, and I think it would be difficult even for Leia to just go back like everything was normal.<br />
<br />
Thrackan says something about how he expects they'll be gone soon.<br />
<br />
<i> "We're not going anywhere until Leia can walk." <br /><br /> Leia frowned. Their faces had been on newsvids all over the system, and he was talking about staying until she could walk. What kind of rocket juice had he been drinking while they were apart? <br /><br /> "Han," Leia said gently. "We talked this over. You know I may... I ever..." <br /><br /> Han whirled on her. "Until you walk, Leia." <br /><br /> Leia recoiled, and Han hovered over the bed, staring into her eyes, not blinking, not breathing, not wavering, as though he could change what had happened on Duro...maybe even what had happened before that...through sheer force of will.</i><br />
<br />
Han is obviously starting to seem like his old self. I'd imagine that it would be incredibly difficult to have gone through all of that and be apart only to have Leia nearly die so soon after they found each other again, and now not being sure if she will ever be able to walk.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> "If it makes you feel better, I could always have you killed," Sal-Solo offered amicably. "That works for me." <br /><br /> "And how do you think Anakin would like that?" Leia retorted. Their son Anakin was the only one who had ever been able to fully activate Centerpoint Station, and his absence was one reason the ancient superweapon wasn't working now. "He doesn't care for you much as it is, Thrackan. I doubt he'd be very helpful if you arranged death of his parents." </i><br />
<br />
Leia still makes excellent points. Anyway, then the doctor says they need to take with them the woman in the bacta tank, and Han is acting like it's Jaina, but it's not.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> "Oh...right. Our friend." Han glanced at Leia, and something roguish came to his eye, something sly and fun and conspiratorial that had not been there since before Chewbacca's death. He looked back to Sal-Solo and sighed. "Look, I don't mean to be difficult, but we can't go without Jaina." <br /><br /> "Jaina? Jaina's here?" <br /><br /> Leia thought she had been the one to blurt the question, but realized that was not so when all eyes turned to Sal-Solo. At least she understood why Han had been acting so strangely. She had a vague memory of a deep-space rendezvous with the Jade Shadow, of kissing her brother and each of her children goodbye and idling them she would see them again on Coruscant. Something must have happened. Perhaps Han had needed Jaina to help him fly the Falcon, or perhaps Mara and Luke had run into trouble and been forced to divert. Maybe all of her children were on Corellia. <br /><br /> She hoped not. She hoped Jacen and Anakin were safe on Coruscant... but it would good to see them, too. So good. <br /><br /> "...Anakin?" Sal-Solo was asking-"Is he here, too?" <br /><br /> "Just Jaina," Han said firmly. "Anakin and Jacen are on Coruscant." <br /><br /> "Of course, you would say that." Sal-Solo was thinking aloud. <br /><br /> If he could force Anakin to reactivate Centerpoint, he would have no worries from the Yuuzhan Vong or the New Republic. He could use it to isolate the whole Corellian system and run the place as his personal empire. "But I can find out. I have my ways." <br /><br /> "Yeah...you could comm them on Coruscant," Han said. "Feel free to reverse the Holonet charges...I know how strapped things are here in Corellia." <br /><br /> "Wait...what was that about tank three?" Leia demanded, not paying much attention to the exchange between Han and Sal-Solo. <br /><br /> "Jaina in a bacta tank? What happened?" <br /><br /> "You remember." Again, Han gave her a strange glare. "That hit on Duro turned out to be worse than we thought." <br /><br /> The stress alarm behind the bed started to beep again. <br /><br /> "Will you please disconnect that thng?" Leia demanded. Whatever had happened...whatever Han was trying to tell her...she did not want a machine giving them away. "And get me a repulsor chair. I want to see my daughter." </i><br />
<br />
I like that Leia can see this glimmer in Han that has been missing for so long. And of course that Leia just wants to see her kids as well. Now we find out how Leia's legs feel.<br />
<br />
<i> Leia's legs were no sooner lowered than they began to ache with a pain a hundred times worse than childbirth. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced, a bursting, throbbing, burning kind of anguish that made her wish the Yuuzhan Vong had finished the job and cut them all the way off. She caught Sal-Solo staring and looked down to see two huge Huttlike things sticking out where her legs should have been.</i><br />
<br />
Ouch, well that doesn't sound fun. Poor Leia. They make their way to the bacta tank and the woman inside Leia notices is at least 30, and still has all of her hair, and Jaina had hers shaved off in the decontamination. Thrackan makes some comment that she is a little old to be Han's daughter. Leia realizes that for some reason they need to get this woman off Corellia. Leia realizes then that none of her children are there.<br />
<br />
<i> Leia should have been relieved, but instead she felt let down and desperately alone.</i><br />
<br />
Aw, poor Leia again. She just wants to see her kids! Finally they make it back to the Falcon so they can leave. It is still painted matte black and Leia is thinking about if it was so the ship wouldn't garner a second glance.<br />
<br />
<i>She wondered if that was what Han had intended when he-chose the new color, or if it had just been a way of expressing his grief over Chewbacca's loss. She might never know; they were no longer close enough that she could guess, and she was not comfortable asking. How sad was that, after defeating the Empire and having three children together?</i><br />
<br />
Man, Leia is having a rough time here. It is definitely very sad that she no longer feels close enough to Han to ask him anything. Before they leave they are approached by someone asking for a ride. Han is pretty insistent that he isn't giving any rides, but Leia convinces him that she is definitely not going to be a helpful copilot, and this guy claims to be competent. Han quizzes him and decides he knows what he is doing and allows him on board, and they all head in and see Threepio who is of course happy to see them. Leia is having some trouble getting her chair where it needs to be.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> Seeing that her chair would prevent the bulky bacta tank from entering the access ring, Leia mowed ahead. She was feeling terribly tired and weak, and her first instinct was to turn toward the main deck and stay out of the way. But she had been alone too much over the last year, and the thought of sitting by herself while Han and his new copilot solved their problems was more than she could hear. She needed to be with her husband...even if she was no longer quite sure he wanted her.</i><br />
<br />
There is no shortage in this story of heartbreaking thoughts from Leia. Not just all that being alone, but she still doesn't know if Han wants her. I do think that she would harbor some insecurities here after the way he treated her. There is even a moment where Leia can tell that Han is impressed by his new copilot, and she "tried not to be jealous." This poor woman is starved for affection. They do get a brief moment alone while their new copilot goes to fix a light on the boarding ramp.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> "I'm glad you're up here'' <br /><br /> Leia smiled. "Me, too."</i><br />
<br />
Ok, so we're starting slow with Han and Leia interaction. Now Han gets to do some flying, and their new copilot comments:<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> "This is Han Solo, isn't it? The Han Solo?" <br /><br /> Han glanced over his shoulder and saw Leia shrug. <br /><br /> "You know, I've been wondering myself." Her eyes drooped and Han thought she might be falling asleep, then she added, "But when I checked, that's what his identichip read." <br /><br /> "One of them, anyway," Han said, glad to hear an echo...no matter how faint...of Leia's sharp wit. </i><br />
<br />
So, now we've moved to Han's point of view, and at least he is noticing Leia coming back to herself a bit. Han finds out his new copilot's name is Izal, and thinks it sounds familiar. Apparently he has a lightsaber though he hasn't used it. Han turns to ask Leia if she finds the name familiar.<br />
<br />
<i> He turned to look and found her chin slumped against her chest Though her eyes were closed, her brow was creased and her hands were twitching, and it made Han's heart ache to see her suffer so even in her sleep. <br /><br /> "Looks like I better put our patient to bed."</i><br />
<br />
I'm sure it is difficult for Han to see his wife suffering like that.<br />
<br />
<i> She did not stir, even when he lifted her into the bunk and connected her to the medical data banks. He knew she needed her rest, but he wished she would open her eyes just for a minute and give him a smile, some indication that she would recover...that they would. He had needed to mourn Chewbacca's death, he knew that, and maybe he had even needed to crisscross the galaxy helping Droma search for his clan. But only now was Han beginning to see how he had surrendered to his grief, or to understand that there had been a cost. <br /><br /> "Get well, Princess." He kissed Leia on the brow. "Don't give up on me yet." <br /><br /> The monitors showed no indication that she heard. </i><br />
<br />
It kind of makes me sad to see that apparently Han is JUST now realizing what this whole thing had cost him. I guess at least he does finally realize, and hopes she won't give up on him. But things get a little crazy. Han sees evidence that there are some stowaways aboard, and he doesn't trust Izal. He tells Threepio to stay and not let anyone near Leia while he goes to talk to Izal, and winds up stunning him. But they are also now under attack by some ships, which doesn't help matters. But then someone starts firing the guns, and Han thinks it's Leia but apparently it is one of his stowaways, and another comes to him in the cockpit and tells him to fly the ship. It's a Barabel who also appears to be a Jedi. Han doesn't usually like being told what to do, but realizes if this was going to be real trouble then the Barabel already would've killed him. In the middle of dealing with the ships that are still attacking them, Han finds out that these stowaways are meant to look after the woman in the bacta tank who was a Jedi and had been a student of Luke's. They need to get to their own rendezvous, and Han doesn't want to go because Leia needs more bacta, but he is promised that they have some and can help her. Finally they escape the intruders, and then Leia wakes up:<br />
<br />
<i> "Han? Han I..." <br /><br /> "I'm sorry, Captain Solo," C-3PO interrupted. "But she's just awakened and insists she must speak with you this instant." <br /><br /> "Han?" Leia's voice was raspy and weak, and she sounded con fused. "Han, I'm so thirsty. Could you bring me some water?" </i><br />
<br />
I thought that was kind of cute. There is all this craziness going on, and Leia wakes up and all she wants is for Han to bring her some water. But now might be a good time to mention my disappointment when we get this ebook that is supposed to be all about Han and Leia, and then we spend a good chunk right there with Leia just sleeping and Han dealing with these stowaways.<br />
<br />
Now, three days later they reach the rendezvous. The Barabels and Leia want to help the Jedi woman in the bacta tank. Han changes Leia's bandages for her and starts to get angry that there is no bacta for her where they are, and that, to him, is the most crucial matter at the moment. <i> </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>He threw the soiled bandages down the disposal chute and started to leave. Leia's repulsor chair barely turned fast enough to keep him in view. <br /><br /> "Han, wait!" Leia made a point of staying where she was; once she started moving, she would find herself following him clear into the cockpit. "Let's think this through." <br /><br /> Han turned in the door. "What's to think through?" There was that hard look again—hardly unknown, but oddly out of place-"We need bacta." <br /><br /> "We do," Leia admitted. "But how long will it take to reach Talfaglio?" <br /><br /> "Ten and a half hours," Han said confidently. "I had Izal plot the course." <br /><br /> Leia glanced toward the portable tank "We don't have ten hours, Eelysa will be dead in half that time." <br /><br /> "And you in twenty." <br /><br /> "We don't know that." <br /><br /> "Well, I'm not taking chances." Han turned and vanished through the door <br /><br /> Leia hastened after him, but her chair was no match for his angry stride. He was already disappearing around the curve of the corridor as she floated out of the crew quarters, and by then she finally understood the hard look in his eye. <br /><br /> "Han!" <br /><br /> Han stopped, but did not turn. <br /><br /> "We can't go." Leia wondered if she still knew this man at all, if he could have been so hardened by Chewbacca's death and the treachery of the Duros that he had truly become the selfish cynic he had fancied himself when they met. "We have to wait . . . and hope." <br /><br />"We have to get you to a bacta tank." Han turned, his eyes filled with tears he refused to shed. "If we don't, you may not walk again." <br /><br /> "Then at least I won't be walking on corpses." Leia started her chair down the corridor. "Han, haw you forgotten who I am?" Do you think I want to walk at the cost of someone else's life? Would you want me to?" <br /><br /> Han shook his head weakly. Then tears began to escape his eyes, and he hurried up the corridor. Leia did not follow. She still understood him well enough to know when to leave him alone. He could face no more loss, and Leia was coming to comprehend—or was it fear? That when he looked at her in the repulsor chair, he saw another loss, something else taken by the Yuuzhan Vong. <br /><br /> And, Leia was astonished to realize, she saw the same thing in him. After Chewbacca's death, he had shut himself off from his family and disappeared into the galaxy to grieve alone. She had believed he just needed room, and she had given it to him. But now she realized he had left for another reason as well, to shield her and the children from a fury he could not control. Would he have gone, she wondered, if she had tried harder to reach him, just kept pushing and weathered the storm when he finally unleashed his anger? Would he still feel like such a stranger now? <br /><br /> Deciding only a fool makes the same mistake twice, Leia started up the corridor. This time, she would not let him suffer in private.</i><br />
<br />
Well they are certainly seeming a bit more like themselves here. Thinking of Han in this situation, I think of him as feeling somewhat helpless. And this is a rare reference to him actually shedding tears. Of course the best thing of all of this is that Leia decides she is not going to let him suffer alone anymore, and she needs to be able to reach him.<br />
<i> </i><br />
A ship finally approaches and they think it is bacta, but apparently it is a Vong vessel. And apparently they had wanted to know about bacta themselves and nobody is quite sure how worried they need to be.<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"What if something goes wrong?" The worry in Han's voice was so foreign to the Han Solo that Leia remembered that she thought for a moment someone else was speaking. "Eelysa's the one who will pay the price." <br /><br /> "And Leia, too, you're thinking," Izal Waz said. <br /><br /> "The thought had crossed my mind," Han admitted <br /><br /> Tesar covered Han's shoulder with a black-scaled claw "Han Solo, you worry too much. What could go wrong?" <br /><br /> Leia had to smile "At least Jacen will feel better," she said, trying to take Han's mind off all the things that could go wrong.</i><br />
<br />
I kind of like that little detail, that suddenly Han has become a worrier, and that is not something he used to have an issue with. Anyway, then a group of Barabel fighters show up to help. And at this point I was like, damn, this story has a LOT more actual plot to it that has nothing to do with Han and Leia than I remembered.<br />
<i> </i><br />
But now we finally get to some more quiet time. Han and Leia are at an abandoned spa that the Barabels use as their base. Han is doing some research while Leia is using leg braces to slowly walk around an abandoned pool for therapy. Which leads us to probably the most important part of the story for any Han and Leia fan:<br />
<br />
<i>Leia's clunking, grew louder. Han looked up to see her approaching, arms swinging wide to balance the cybernetic exercise braces that kept her legs from collapsing. <br /><br /> "That's all." She stopped in front of her repulsor chair and turned her back toward it, arms extended for Han to take when he lowered her into the seat. "These braces still aren't adjusted. I can't even cock my ankle." <br /><br /> "Give it some time." Han did not rise. Leia had only completed six of the twenty-five laps that Cilghal...the Jedi's most accomplished healer...had prescribed, and today was the first day she had gone beyond four laps. "You just need to get used to them." <br /><br /> "Thanks for your opinion, Dr. Solo," Leia said dryly. She continued to stand with her arms out. "Now, would you please help me into my chair and take these things off?" <br /><br /> Han slapped the stylus on the table. "Sure." <br /><br /> Though thrice-daily bacta treatments had finally chased the infection from Leia's legs, it seemed to Han another infection had been festering a place bacta could not reach. There was a sadness in her that had been growing, since Corellia. Any effort to encourage her invariably met a sharp-tongued riposte, any bid to urge her on only resulted in a sullen retreat. This was not the Leia he had married all those years ago, before... well, before he had gone crazy and shut her out. She had Leia's face and voice and body and even her wit, but she held herself apart now; it was as though the Yuuzhan Vong had taken Leia away from him without even killing her, and now he wanted her back. <br /><br /> "Han?" Leia was suspended hallway above the seat of the repulsor chair, her arms still clasped in his grasp. "Are you going to keep me hanging here?" <br /><br /> "No." Han hauled her to her feet, then took her arm and pulled her two steps toward the pool. "Let's do a couple of circuits together. If something's out of alignment, maybe I'll see it." <br /><br /> "If, Han?" Leia pulled her arm free. "Wouldn't I be the one who could tell?" <br /><br /> Han sighed. "Look, maybe they're uncomfortable, but there are only so many adjustments, I've tried them all." <br /><br /> Leia narrowed her eyes. "So I don't know what I'm talking about." <br /><br /> "I'm saying give them more time." Han took her arm again. <br /><br /> "Come on, just a couple more circuits." <br /><br /> "Are you listening?" Leia refused to move her feet, and Han had to stop pulling or drag her over. "It hurts. I can't do any more today." <br /><br /> C-3PO looked up at the sound of Leia's sharp voice and started to say something, then wisely decided his assistance was not needed. <br /><br /> "You mean won't," Han said. <br /><br /> "All right, won't." Leia clunked the two steps back to her chair. <br /><br /> "What's the difference?" Either way, you're helping me into that chair and out of these braces. If you can't do that—" <br /><br /> "That I can do," Han said, surrendering to his exasperation. "I can put you in and out of this chair for the rest of your life, if that's what you want. What I can't is make those braces comfortable, so you'll just have to take the pain and keep going. When that task force of killers finally finds us—and they will find us—it might be nice if you could actually run for cover." <br /><br /> "That's fine advice, coming from you," Leia said. <br /><br /> "What's that supposed to mean?" <br /><br /> "You can figure it out," Leia said. "After Chewbacca died. you certainly ran. And you kept running farther and farther..." Leia stopped and looked away, and Han finally understood that they weren't arguing about cybernetic braces, or how many circuits Leia made of the pool, or even how much she really wanted to walk again. <br /><br /> Leia shook her head. "This won't get us anywhere. Let's just drop it." <br /><br /> "No, go ahead," Han replied, "It's time you said it." <br /><br /> Leia continued to look away. "I didn't mean anything..." <br /><br /> "Yes, you did." Han spoke with a humility hard-earned over the last year. "The truth is, I might have a made a few mistakes in the way I handled things." <br /><br /> Now Leia looked at him, her eyes as round as sensor dishes. "I suppose you might have," she said cautiously. "But you needed to grieve." <br /><br /> "Yeah, and maybe I even needed to go help Droma find his clan. What I didn't need to do was concussion-bomb our family." Han was quiet for a moment, then...forcing himself not to look away...he said, "Leia, I'm sorry." <br /><br /> Leia's eyes brightened with tears. She held his gaze for a moment, then clunked forward. Han reached for her hands, but she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her cheek against his chest. <br /><br /> "Me, too," she said. "I'm sorry, too. All these years, I've devoted myself to the New Republic and asked you and the children to sacrifice so much." <br /><br /> "Hey, this is my apology." Han took her by shoulders. "And what you did for the New Republic is important." <br /><br /> "It is but I had a part in letting this happen," Leia said. "Without you around, it became very clear that I haven't exactly been the glue that holds this family together." <br /><br /> "Your hands were pretty full trying to hold the galaxy together." Han did not like where this was going; blaming herself for their family problems was not going to make Leia work harder in her braces. "I couldn't have picked a worse time to leave you on your own." <br /><br /> "Haven't my hands always been full? That's the point. All these years, I think I've been trying to rebuild what I lost when Alderaan was destroyed." Leia placed her finger over his heart. "I couldn't see that I already had it—here with you and the children." <br /><br /> Han was speechless. These days, even his apologies ricocheted. <br /><br /> "If we hadn't found each other on Duro when we did," Leia continued, "I would have died alone...a stranger to my own family." <br /><br /> Han wanted to say that wasn't true, or she couldn't know what might have happened, or that the Force had brought them back to each other. But all that sounded somehow hollow and not what Leia needed to hear. He needed to give her a jolt, to make her see that they had come through it, if only she would open her heart and eyes and see it. <br /><br /> "You know who you remind me of?" he asked. "Borsk Fey'lya, claiming all the credit for himself." <br /><br /> Leia's jaw dropped. "Borsk Fey'lya! How dare..." She must have seen the mischief in Han's face, because she let the sentence trail off and scowled. A hint of the old spark returned to her eve, and she gave him a sideways look. "Borsk! Not really?" <br /><br /> Han half smiled. "Really. You're taking way too much of this on yourself. You'd have had to chase me across half the galaxy— and drag me out of a thousand tapcafs." <br /><br /> Leia pondered this, then said, "You know, I am being too hard on myself." She seemed to shed two years of worry lines in as many seconds, then added, "As you say, you're the one who shut me out. What was 1 supposed to do, slap a set of stun cuffs on you and borrow an interrogator droid from NRI?" <br /><br /> "Of course not," Han said, beginning to wonder who was toying with whom. "But like you said, we both played our parts—" <br /><br /> "No, when you're right you're right-.I'm not going to argue." Leia's smile...not quite a victory smirk...turned as hard as durasteel. "But you're never doing that again, Han. The next time you need help, you won't escape." <br /><br /> Han felt like the spa's supplemental gravity inducers had reset themselves. He had flutters in his stomach and bells in his ears, and he even felt a little weak in the knees. This was the Leia he remembered. She took his shirt collar and, unable to rise on her toes, began to pull him down so she could kiss him. <br /><br /> "Not so fast." Han disengaged himself and retreated to the edge of the empty pool. "If you want to do that, you come over here." <br /><br /> Leia raised her brow. "You're going to make me work for this?" She looked him up and down, then finally clanked after him. "It had better be good.'' <br /><br /> Han gave. her his finest smirk. "Oh, it'll be good." He waited until she was almost to him, then began to retreat along the pool's edge toward C-3PO. "Just the way you remember." <br /><br /> "The way I remember?" Leia echoed. "Taking a lot for granted, aren't you?" <br /><br /> They were interrupted by an excited cry from C-3PO. "I've found something!" </i><br />
<br />
Wow. Well, that's a lot to take in, isn't it? In some ways I don't like that Leia feels like she needs to apologize for how she had been, well, the entire time. And the implication that she was never the glue that held them all together. I do like that Leia finally gets mad and makes it clearer that what he did wasn't ok, and Han sincerely apologizes. It does feel very authentic though that after this heartfelt conversation they revert to teasing each other. I can very much picture Leia grabbing Han's shirt and pulling him down, and I love that he plans to make her work for that kiss. But damn it, why is Threepio always interrupting?!?!<br />
<i> </i><br />
Ok, then there is more plot stuff, trying to figure out who the traitor is who is trying to find where Leia is to send someone to kill her. Also Leia is getting better with walking but having odd tremors and is told she needs to find a nerve splicer as there could be some nerve damage, so she and Han and researching that. And then this cute line:<br />
<br />
<i>Leia leaned across the arm of her chair and kissed him. They had been doing a lot of that lately. "Han, you're a genius."</i><br />
<br />
Aw, yay! Lots of kissing! Then this bit:<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> "I need him to convene a corruption panel." <br /><br /> "Without good evidence?" A knavish smile came to Han's lips. <br /><br /> "I didn't think you played dirty." <br /><br /> "I'll make an exception," Leia said. "This woman's trying to outlaw my children." </i><br />
<br />
Yeah, I totally can see Leia playing dirty if her kids are in trouble in any way. Anyway, some other plot stuff later and then we are at this corruption panel, and apparently it is a surprise that Leia was able to get there. But, lucky for her, her whole family is there.<br />
<br />
<i> "What I want to know is how you're going to get to the accuser's table," Jaina whispered. All Leia's children were there, along with Luke, several more Jedi, and Leia's new Noghri body-guards. "We'll have to float you!" <br /><br /> "We'll clear the aisle, Mom," Anakin said, nodding to Jacen. Leia caught him by the arm. <br /><br /> "Now isn't the time for the Jedi to seem arrogant," she said. "I'll walk." <br /><br /> "Walk?" Han asked. "How?" <br /><br /> "With a little help from my family." Leia looked to Jaina—Jaina who had been so angry with her and felt so abandoned by her on Duro... and asked, "Would you mind?" <br /><br /> The smile that came to Jaina's face was almost as lopsided as Han's. "Trust me?" <br /><br /> Leia felt her daughter reach out in the Force, then felt herself rise into a standing position. Her legs started to move, by Jaina's will instead of her own, but in a reasonable imitation of walking. The room erupted into a fresh round of murmurs as the vidcasters commented on what they were broadcasting. Luke and the others took protective positions around Leia, and they started forward.</i><br />
<br />
It's so nice that Leia finally has her whole family with her, supporting her. And I liked the little moment between her and Jaina. And that they are all helping her walk. They are accusing Senator Viqui Shesh of being a traitor for the Vong, and attempting to have Han and Leia killed. And she didn't even show up to the meeting, which to Leia means she was confident that they would be dead. But overall it's good news because her Senatorial membership is suspended until they figure out what is going on. And she had been working to help swing the vote in the other direction to surrender the Jedi to the Vong.<br />
<br />
So then we move to a week later, and Leia is in bed getting that whole nerve thing taken care of. Her whole family is there with her, and they are watching the votes come in.<br />
<br />
<i> The nervesplicer said something about normal sensation and improving motor control. But Fey'lya raised his brow just then, and Leia missed whatever it was the doctor said next. <br /><br /> "Did you see that?" Han asked. "He's surprised." <br /><br /> "That can't be good," Jaina said. <br /><br /> "It's hard to know." Leia reached out and found Han's hand. <br /><br /> "Nobody has been able to tell what Borsk thinks will happen." <br /><br /> The doctor stepped into Leia's line of sight. "Princess Leia, I have some news." <br /><br /> "In a minute." <br /><br /> Leia cast an appealiiig glance at her daughter, who quietly used the Force to slide the doctor out of the way. </i><br />
<br />
Hah, I like that they sometimes use the Force like that. And that Leia reaches for Han's hand. Anyway, the vote comes in and everyone seems happy. And the doctor tells Leia she is healed and will be fine. In spite of the vote going well, Luke is uneasy about how many people are against the Jedi and worries for them. He wants someone to set up a way for them to get around.<br />
<br />
<i> "That's right," Luke said. "The Jedi are going to need a quiet way to move around the galaxy, a great river that can carry them wherever they need to go." <br /><br /> Leia saw where this was going. "And you're thinking Han and I would be a good team to set up this great river?" <br /><br /> "You do have the skills," Luke said. "A smuggler and a diplomat." <br /><br /> Han did not even hesitate. He simply took one glance at their children, got a hard look in his eye, then set his jaw and turned to Leia. "What do you think, partner?" Want to wander around the galaxy together?" <br /><br /> "Sure." Leia pulled him onto the bed and twined her fingers into his. "But I'm navigating." </i><br />
<br />
The end. Well, there we have it. Not a bad consolation prize for the lack of good stuff in Balance Point. Of course I love the end, when Han and Leia are going to go off and work together on something important. Basically this is how they are going to operate from here on out. Not running off and doing things alone or with others, but working together on things. Which is as it should be.<br />
<br />
Overall obviously some really nice moments in here. Although as I said, for a short story that was dedicated mostly to them, there was a lot more plot stuff than I had remembered. I liked that the kids got included at the end as well. I think generally I feel like this did a good job of getting Han and Leia back to themselves. Maybe it's missing another intimate moment or two, but this is Star Wars pro fic, and this is about as good as it gets in that regard. And it gets us to the most important part, which is Han and Leia being together again.<br />
<br />
For the Han and Leia factor, we have to give this one a 5. I mean it focuses entirely on them, we have some real emotional conversations, which is something that we rarely if at all see in any of these books or stories. And they finally begin acting like themselves again. <i> </i><br />
<br />
<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i> </i>Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-40975254375983032202017-07-13T12:08:00.001-05:002017-07-13T12:20:12.835-05:00Happy 75th Birthday, Harrison Ford<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today, Harrison Ford is 75. That just seems unbelievable. Especially when you look at him. That photo is from like 2 weeks ago. Are you kidding me? I guess he seems a little more like 75 when you watch the video of him acting like basically everyone's grandpa when he can't quite manage to get through airport security without issue, and you realize he is old enough that he is not required to remove his shoes, but whatever. Then again I guess he should seem like 75 when you really think about just how long he has been doing this.<br />
<br />
Now of course I do wonder, what's next? It's kind of strange because currently I don't think he is scheduled to do any more movies. Unless you count Indiana Jones 5, but I'll be honest, with the way that they keep pushing off production on that one my feeling is that they are almost purposely waiting so long that the general public will become a little more ok with replacing him with someone else. Oh, newsflash: we will never be ok with that. Just like we are not ok with replacing him as Han Solo. Nobody wants to see that happen. Either way though, I'm not particularly confident he will be reprising his role as Indiana Jones. That is just a personal opinion, and I'd love to be wrong! But come on, 75, what are you WAITING for?<br />
<br />
Other than that, we've got the Blade Runner sequel coming out in October. And I'll see it even though I'm pretty sure it will be outrageously dystopian and a complete downer and I'll probably never want to see it again, but I do want to see him in another movie. It will be interesting to see if he signs on for anything else in the near future. I mean, it's not like he HAS to, since I'm sure he has way, way more than enough money. But he does claim to like to work.<br />
<br />
So, happy birthday, Harrison. Thanks for being awesome in, well, most of your movies. And for looking something like this for so long:<br />
<br />
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<br />Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4591963962547240042.post-85755328993321984902017-07-07T19:07:00.000-05:002017-07-07T19:07:00.767-05:00Balance Point - The Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHfcNPwOmZWWPpCdFyHehMMMcbzlpjbB-eAft5Ke5abZw23Qi_ScFw7nZ0Jm9he-Mqaq91J_XwQPyk54bfS5M83IjWljOvx-0UkCHNwNUdRnFv86SttKE2gePiXU-1Vozt5AFZFUEBM5-/s1600/Balance_Point_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="620" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHfcNPwOmZWWPpCdFyHehMMMcbzlpjbB-eAft5Ke5abZw23Qi_ScFw7nZ0Jm9he-Mqaq91J_XwQPyk54bfS5M83IjWljOvx-0UkCHNwNUdRnFv86SttKE2gePiXU-1Vozt5AFZFUEBM5-/s400/Balance_Point_Cover.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, finally we come to Balance Point. I’ll tell you right
up front that this marks the END of the splitting up of Han and Leia. From what
I recall, from this point forward, they are pretty rarely apart from one
another for just about every single book for the entire rest of the EU. It
doesn’t totally make up for the split in the first place, but it does at least
help somewhat.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I can’t remember if I knew or not when I got this book that
Han and Leia were finally going to be back together. But I’m positive that when
I got it I sat down immediately and flipped through it and was happy to find
that it appeared they did, in fact, finally reconcile. Of course, those of you
who remembered that these books seriously lacked on the emotional side are very
much correct. But the end game is going to be the same, Han and Leia are back
together. So let’s get them there…</div>
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The first thing that happens in this book, is that Jaina is
injured while flying for Rogue Squadron. She has to eject from her X-wing, and
of course since Jacen is her brother, he knows something bad has happened.
Jacen is on Duro, and Han is there too. They are working to settle many of the
refugees that had been displaced by the war, and basically living as refugees
themselves. But in the midst of Jacen realizing that his sister has been hurt,
he has a vivid vision that basically makes him believe that he should no longer
use the Force, or terrible things will happen.</div>
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He eventually wakes up on a cot with his father and some
medical droids trying to help him since he collapsed during his vision and hit
his head. Han is clearly worried and asks what happened, and Jacen then
mentions Jaina, which of course gets Han riled up, and Jacen tells him that she
has been hurt. And remember when we said we didn’t like that it was all so
light on emotion? That’s it, that’s the end of the chapter. Jacen tells Han
that Jaina was hurt, and that’s it. I mean I guess we all assume Han is very
protective of his daughter, and all his kids really, but still maybe would’ve
been nice to have seen a little more there.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later Han and Jacen are on the Falcon, and Jacen is thinking a lot about what his father has been going through:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>They waited in silence. The weeks when Han's grief had overwhelmed them all drifted up into Jacen's memory. He'd happened into a cantina when Han had gone looking for oblivion. And on a worse night, he'd heard Han scald Leia, using words that never should've been spoken and could hardly be forgiven. Jacen had never mentioned that night to his mom. She probably hoped Jacen had forgotten. <br /><br /> Jacen doubted his dad remembered even saying them. He hoped his mother could somehow forget.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gee, thanks for the reminder that Han was terrible for a very long time. This always made me wonder if they meant things he overheard that we saw in the books, or stuff they are just alluding to him having said and we don't even know exactly how terrible the things he said were. And by the way, at the beginning of the book they tell us it has been 10 months since Chewbacca died. So Han has been terrible for a long time. </div>
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<i> </i></div>
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They get an update about Jaina and find out that she was fairly injured, but bacta is helping and she will recover totally, which is a great relief to Han and Jacen. Then they are asked if they know where Leia is. Apparently none of them know where anyone is.</div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>"Isn't she back on Coruscant?" <br /><br /> "No, Captain. SELCORE administration seems to have lost her." <br /><br /> "Lost her?" Han echoed sarcastically. "Sorry. I can't help with that." <br /><br /> Jacen flicked the console's edge. "I could stay out here," he offered. "I'll try to find her." <br /><br /> Han's eyes focused on something in the distance. "Sure," he said. The pain in his voice reminded Jacen that things were not well between his parents. "You do that."</i></div>
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Ugh, poor kid, having to know that his parents aren't doing well. </div>
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<i> </i></div>
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Then we find Leia, who is, as usual, working very hard to help people. This time it is getting a real community going to help refugees, building facilities to handle them, stuff like that. Threepio is with her, so I guess she does have someone. In a sort of sweet moment Threepio asks her if Han will be permanently absent from their operation there. Leia says she doesn't know because he didn't know where he was going last time they spoke. Then she wonders why he cares if Han had been so mean to him over the years. But apparently he had helped some droids on another planet. Leia can't believe that Han actually helped droids.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>"Good heavens," Leia said softly. "Whatever was he thinking?" She'd love to rub his nose in that little tale. <br /><br /> Actually, she'd love to rub his nose against hers. It'd been so long. <br /><br /> Did his long silence mean that an enemy had found him? But he had Droma's help, now. He'd made it plain that he didn't want hers. <br /><br /> If he was dead, and their last words had been scornful taunts, she would regret it for the rest of her life. She was almost tempted to stretch out with the Force, looking for him. <br /><br /> No. He could be on the other side of the Mid Rim by now. If she reached out and felt nothing, she would fear the worst. She finished her meal in silence, then assembled her dishes for C-3PO to recycle. <br /><br /> "Whatever happens, I'll take care of you," she promised. "I need you." </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, poor Leia. All she has is Threepio. She is longing for her husband even though he has recently been nothing but awful to her. And she doesn't even really know if he's all right, or if he would even want to see her. Still bad news all around. She then thinks about how busy she has been, and it explains why she hasn't been looking for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i> </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i> No wonder she hadn't had time to go looking for Han. She would've given everything to see him, the way he'd been before tragedy tore them apart. He'd matured so much from the scoundrel she'd come to love, although he'd never lost the glimmer in his eyes, or the quirk to his lips - till he lost Chewie. Suddenly, he was Han with the itchy trigger finger again. Han with the low-life friends. Scoundrel she could tolerate, even enjoy. All right, she admitted to herself: Scoundrel she'd adored. Over the years, he'd learned to drop the defenses that first turned him into a scoundrel. He'd learned to let her glimpse his real idealism. He needed warmth in return. <br /><br /> Over the years, slowly, she'd learned to give it. She loved both sides of him, the knight-errant and the scoundrel - but this time, she must wait until he came to her. She couldn't baby a full-grown man.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course I hate a lot of this, but I like a lot of this as well. Like that Leia loves both sides of him, and adores the scoundrel. But we are reminded that without the other side of him, there isn't much there to love. It still seems just terrible that she doesn't have much choice but to wait for him to come to her, if he will at all. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i> </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now a brief interlude with Luke and Mara. You know, the ones who can speak to each other through their minds. Well they're talking about the Solo boys, and the rift coming between them. And Luke can tell that Anakin still blames himself for Chewie's death, and now for what happened in the last book at Centerpoint Station. And then they think about how powerful he is:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>As it would chase Anakin, who was raised by an ex-smuggler who loved to bend rules, a loving but often absent mother, her talented aide, and a protocol droid - and at the Jedi academy, in the shadow of two siblings. If Anakin didn't fall to the dark side, then having resisted temptation could leave him even stronger - maybe the most powerful Jedi of his generation. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, are we blaming anything that happens to Anakin on his "absent" mother? Also, let's be clear that Han doesn't bend the rules just for the sake of it. He just does what needs to be done whether or not it falls within the range of the rules. But really the most annoying part of this to me is being reminded how powerful he is, when all they're going to do is *spoiler alert* kill him a few books from now. Anyway...</div>
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Now Jaina is brought to Han and Jacen, and of course they are both excited to see her. </div>
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<i> Han stepped forward. "You've got my girl, I hope." His voice echoed oddly inside the cofferdam. <br /><br /> "Her attendant's helping her forward. Sign here, please." The pilot thrust out a datapad. <br /><br /> "Nope," Han said. "Not till I see her." <br /><br /> Watching over his father's shoulder, Jacen spotted a dark gray coverall, dark hair chopped surprisingly short, and his sister's face, half covered by some kind of mask. <br /><br /> Jaina batted away her droid-attendant's extended limb. "I can walk down a ramp. Hi, Dad. Hello, Jacen. Thanks for coming to pick up the pieces." <br /><br /> She walked down, limping slightly. Han embraced her, rocking from foot to foot. Then Jacen slipped his arms around her shoulders. Until he knew more about her injuries, he didn't want to squeeze. <br /><br /> "I'm not a skeleton leaf," she growled, tightening her grip. Her fingers dug into his triceps.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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I of course like the image of Han hugging his daughter, and referring to her as "my girl." I also like that Jaina has the same fire as her parents because she doesn't like being treated like an injured person.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<i> Finished with the medical team, their dad clapped an arm around her shoulder. "Come inside, sweetie. I'll get you settled before I head back to the pumping station."</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, now briefly to Luke and Mara for some plot stuff. Things are not great for the Jedi. The Vong hate the Jedi, and they want them to be turned over. There is a group called the Peace Brigade that basically is working to try to "make peace" with the Vong by giving them the Jedi. The New Republic senate actually votes to see if they will turn the Jedi over themselves. The vote comes out so they won't do it, but Luke and Mara are understandably still worried about what might happen later. It is during a meeting they are having with New Republic officials that Mara realizes that she is pregnant. After she was sick she thought it might not be possible. She tells Luke, and they have some brief moments of wondering if this is something they should be happy about, and Mara thinks she didn't know she really wanted it until now, but they decide not to tell anyone just yet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now back to Han, Jacen and Jaina. There are these bugs that are infesting the tents at their refugee camp. And here is just a random thought from Jacen. I should note here, one of the things that annoys me about this book, and probably a large part of why I think it is lacking emotionally, is there is virtually nothing from Han's point of view in it. Which is kind of annoying to me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<i> Han stared at Jaina, arching his eyebrows, his eyes soft and sad. <br /><br /> Jacen glanced from his father to his sister, comparing profiles. People generally claimed she resembled a young Leia, but below her bobbed hair, her forehead and cheeks really did have the same angles as Han's. Jacen abruptly pitied any man who wounded Jaina's heart with less than a galaxy between himself and her father.</i></div>
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I guess all of us agree that Han would not react nicely to someone breaking his daughter's heart.</div>
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<i> As Jaina hiked off with Romany to look for Mezza, Jacen asked his dad, "Do you think all this is going to take the edge off her fighting ability?" <br /><br /> "If she doesn't want it to, it won't." Han shifted his weight, frowning. "She's too much like her mother." <br /><br /> Jacen looked up sharply, hearing a depth of loneliness that Han never expressed openly.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The only good thing about this is that finally Han at least appears affected by his self imposed isolation, rather than appearing completely indifferent to everything. Jacen then goes to Jaina and tells her it's time for them to look for their mother, because none of them have seen each other in a while. Again though, there is nothing about anyone's internal thoughts here, that's just it, he tells her it's time to go looking for her. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Well, they can't reach her. And things for them get worse because there is suddenly an infestation of moths and they are overwhelming the camp, and they all have to evacuate. And they also need to decontaminate to make sure nobody transfers any of the eggs to make the whole thing worse. They don't have enough decontaminant to dip them all in, so everyone will have to be shaved. In the midst of all the chaos, another vehicle approaches, and Jacen realizes that someone very familiar is on board before the door even opens. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<i> "Hello," Han said, hastily setting his dirt-streaked face to a slight smile. "Thanks for sending the crawlers, but we've got a slight problem. One of your crewers just found something he thought was an egg. We've got to find out where those bugs came from, but my people here deserve a little respect." <br /><br /> "We'll do our best." <br /><br /> Jacen strained his ears. The voice sounded husky, but right. <br /><br /> "Equal treatment for everyone. SELCORE is enormously grateful for refugee sponsors." <br /><br /> Han extended a hand. "Glad you understand. Han Solo." <br /><br /> Instead of taking his hand, the administrator reached up for her mask's clasps. <br /><br /> "Hey, wait," Han exclaimed. "You'll end up in decontamination." <br /><br /> She pulled off her mask one-handed. A long coil of dark-brown hair tumbled loose. "That's all right," she said somberly. <br /><br /> Leia stared at Han's weary face - his gaping hazel eyes, his slack jaw stubbled with gray. Luke and Mara must have known Han was here, and assumed she did, too. How many people made that assumption - and so they just didn't tell her? <br /><br /> Now, she knew she might have only a moment to reach him, before he remembered the last time she spoke to him. Angrily. "If your people have to be decontaminated," she told Droma, "I'll show them Gateway and SELCORE are with them, not against them." For the moment, her aide Abbela could manage Gateway's day-to-day business. Before Han's eyes went hard and empty again, she had to reach him. She stepped closer. "Besides, I had no idea you were here. I should've known, but ... I don't think you ever sent over a roster." <br /><br /> "We, ah, didn't." A lopsided grin appeared. "I suspect SELCORE's been too busy administering Gateway to notice." <br /><br /> She glanced over her shoulder. Olmahk stayed close, on watch, as C3PO assisted the newcomers. Where would she put them all? She'd hoped to bring those poor Thirty-two people inside her more permanent dome eventually, and send workers back in week-long shifts. Gateway had plenty of space, but construction equipment was booked for weeks ahead, her new apartments filled before she built them. There were tents, carefully struck when her first charges moved into sturdier huts - and there was the decontamination issue ... <br /><br /> Later! She had four-fifths of her family in plain sight, everyone but Anakin. This hadn't happened in months! <br /><br /> She flung her arms around Han. His body remained stiff, but he laid an arm on her shoulders. <br /><br /> She backed away from him. <br /><br /> "Hello, Mom." Jacen opened his arms, then hesitated. <br /><br /> Leia set down her droopy fabric helmet. Since she was committed to quarantine now, she yanked off her chem suit and then flung her arms around Jacen. "By the Force, you're as big as your father." </i></div>
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<i> Then she spotted Jaina, hanging back. "What are you doing here?" <br /><br /> Jaina dangled a pair of fancy goggles from one hand. "Sick leave. We tried to find you." <br /><br /> Leia's stomach took a dive. "Were you injured?" <br /><br /> "Temporary partial blindness. Nothing serious." Jaina lowered her voice. "Get it straight with Dad, Mom. That's first." She turned and strolled back toward the Ryn mob. <br /><br /> Smiling ruefully, Jacen placed both hands on Leia's shoulders. <br /><br /> He gently turned her toward Han, who had thrust his hands back into his pockets. "First," Jacen murmured. <br /><br /> Hesitantly, Leia caressed both twins through the Force. Jacen glowed with the pleasure of being reunited; in Jaina, there was a repressed bitterness that she'd obviously have to face - later. <br /><br /> "Guess it's time I found something to do." Droma replaced the soft cap he'd doffed. "Good to see you again, Princess Leia." He followed Jaina. <br /><br /> Leia linked one arm through her husband's. "Let me show you the whole quarantine area," she said lightly. <br /><br /> In a converted repair dock, families clung to each other, shuffling forward. She mustn't look at them. She had to settle things with Han. Her fault, his fault - didn't matter. Beneath her strength and independence, she really was happiest with someone to help carry her burdens. <br /><br /> On the other hand, that meant she had to help carry his. </i></div>
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<i> "Yes," she admitted, "SELCORE and Gateway have been taking care of themselves. And trying to reclaim the planet. Remember Honoghr, where we couldn't do much of anything? Here, it's in reach. And the Yuuzhan Vong don't want it. This could be a haven for millions." <br /><br /> "I don't think you've paid much attention to the Duros." He frowned. "They're -" <br /><br /> "Barely tolerating us," she admitted. "But we haven't given much back, yet. This world is the key to a new future, where all peoples can live side by side. Wait until you see what our scientists are starting to accomplish." <br /><br /> "Where's old Goldenrod?" Han rubbed his rough chin. "I could've used him. All they gave us was a pair of beat-up modified loadlifters. I had to scam a medical droid." <br /> </i></div>
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<i> Leia half smiled. "Threepio? Just what you needed. Someone to really irritate you." Han must be utterly distracted, she thought, not to recognize C-3PO in a vermin-proof chem suit. <br /><br /> Han's eyes narrowed. "Has Isolder shown up?" <br /><br /> She pulled away, feeling blindsided. "What?" <br /><br /> "At least ten people played me that HoloNet bite of you and His Gorgeousness stepping off that Hapan ship together on Tald. You looked pretty cozy." <br /><br /> Leia got a good breath. "You, who wants everybody to trust you - can't you trust me? The nets have used that as a publicity stunt. I couldn't back out without losing the Hapans' support. We needed those ships." <br /><br /> His expression softened. "Yeah. We did need them. Too bad, how that turned out." <br /><br /> One crisis resolved! On to the next. "How's Jacen?" she asked. "I heard he was taking it all pretty hard." <br /><br /> "Still chewing on it, I guess." He grabbed her hand. "You accused me of having a fling with my past. Well, look at these people. Does this look like a fling -" <br /><br /> "No," she said. "Han, I'm sorry. It's been tough, lately. Really hard." <br /><br /> "Yeah. Well." He firmed his lips, swallowed, then glanced up again. "You probably won't forget some things, but I was hoping you'd forgive them."</i></div>
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<i> Leia threw her arms around him again. This time, he returned the embrace. His arms gripped her, his breath had the sweetness of ... <br /><br /> Well, of a wet Wookiee. <br /><br /> She held her breath while she kissed him. <br /><br /> Then there was no more time for reconciliation.</i></div>
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FINALLY! I remember being incredibly relieved to flip ahead and find out that they were back together, even if it was incredibly short and fleeting, and again kind of lacking in the emotional department. But, well, there are things to like about this little exchange as well. First, that Jacen and Jaina step in and are totally insistent that their parents fix things. I can also buy Leia thinking at that point that it doesn't really matter anymore whose fault anything was. I guess it's too bad his breath stinks, but at least she kisses him anyway. I should note that while in this particular book it makes it seem like this is all it really takes, one brief conversation, one quick kiss, and everything is fine again. But when we move on to Recovery you will see that there is still some trepidation there, both wondering if things can ever really be the same. Han knows what he did was awful, and Leia wonders if he truly even wants her back. Reading that just kind of reiterates how it is quite glossed over in this particular book. But, as I said, at least it is getting resolved and they aren't apart anymore. </div>
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Which reminds me, back when we started doing these reviews we invited anyone to submit any sort of "missing moments" pieces to anything related to these books. Seems like a lot of good opportunities here in this one, as you'll see.</div>
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Then Han and Leia are talking about logistics things, and there are moments where Leia just keeps noticing things about him. Wondering if he had broken his nose another time since she last saw him, also seeing his lopsided grin and thinking she will never get enough of that. And things like this little part:</div>
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<i> "We'll process the sick and injured as priority. Then we can include Jaina, unless she'd rather stay in quarantine indefinitely than get her head shaved. She's at that age, you know. Young men are looking." <br /><br /> He reached out and fingered the long coil of hair that hung forward over her blue uniform. "Can the old guys look, too?" <br /><br /> She touched his hand. "I ... guess it'll have to come off, Han." <br /><br /> He shrugged. "It'll grow. It'll just take a while." <br /><br /> "Will you stick around while it does?" She tried not to plead, but she wanted to. <br /><br /> He ran a hand over his unruly hair. "Hey, someday I might lose mine for good. We'll call it a dry run." <br /><br /> Then he winked, and she melted inside.</i></div>
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Aw, Leia still melts when he winks at her. And he is already back to flirting with her. Well, at least this is an improvement. </div>
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Before we get too excited about the good news, we are reminded that now is when Jaina starts getting pretty mad at her mom for not being there enough when they were kids. I somehow had forgotten this part. Now, remembering how this all went back then, I am sure I really hated this. I still don't love the implication that Leia really wasn't there for her kids when they were growing up. But at the same time, Jaina is 16 or 17 here. And honestly I think a lot of kids get pretty angry at their parents around that age, and even judge them unfairly about certain things. Even a kid whose parents were totally there for them might get angry and accuse them of not being there. But who knows, it's still definitely part of things here. </div>
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<i> "Jaina, I'm trying to help them - and you." <br /><br /> "Maybe," Jaina said through her teeth, "I just don't want help anymore. You showed me I had to learn to do without you. So I did." She stalked away. <br /><br /> Leia gave chase. "You seem to have missed something," she said. "I'll be decontaminating out of here, the same as you, the same as anyone. Think about it." <br /><br /> Jaina stared at the long coil of hair. "You're kidding," she said quietly. "Mother, if you ... how long did it take to grow it that long?" <br /><br /> "That's not even slightly important. You are. I suppose we won't ever find it easy to live in the same place, again. We're too much alike." <br /><br /> Jaina's grin showed teeth. "Bullheaded, obstinate, perfectionist ... me? How could you accuse me of -" <br /><br /> "Heredity," Leia answered. "And environment. You were doomed. At least you've got your father's luck."</i></div>
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The morning after they all found each other again, Han and Jacen are having breakfast and Jacen is thinking how he wishes his parents would have had some time alone together. </div>
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<i> Now Jacen spotted the soft light in Han's eyes and a self-satisfied grin. Maybe his parents had found a few moments alone. In his opinion, they'd both made convenient use of their circumstances to keep from reuniting. There was something splendid about the universe when your mother and father loved each other.</i></div>
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Aw, now this I like. I like the implication there, and find his whole statement very true. But, then we go back to Jaina being mad at Leia. She is now with Mara, but at least Mara is on Leia's side on this one:</div>
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<i> "Didn't ask about me, did she?" Jaina raised her head to stare at Bburru, growing on the fore screen. <br /><br /> "I would've told her if you'd been hurt." <br /><br /> "Some women shouldn't have children." <br /><br /> Mara drew up straight, and a back muscle twanged. She must've overstretched it, scrabbling along on the stony ground. "I can't believe you said that." <br /><br /> When Jaina pursed her lips, she looked a very young seventeen. "To her, I'm an inconvenience. 'Winter, take Jaina for a walk.' 'Threepio, tell Anakin a story.' 'Here, Chewbacca, watch the twins.'" <br /><br /> "And how many mothers gave up a seat on a shuttle headed for safety this year? Put their kids on board and stayed behind, to die or be enslaved? Sometimes staying with your child isn't possible." <br /><br /> "Then mothers who are too important to raise their kids should just sign them over and go off to work." <br /><br /> Mara, who had only vague mental images of her parents, dropped her voice to an icy alto. "For such a mature young woman, you are being surprisingly childish." <br /><br /> Jaina ran a hand over her bare head. It was starting to show a faint brown shadow of regrowth. "I'm also being honest. Mara, I nearly died at Kalarba. I lost an awfully good friend at Ithor. She gave up everything, to give families a chance to survive somewhere else." <br /><br /> "And your mother is giving those survivors somewhere to live. This planet is hope, literally and symbolically." <br /><br /> Jaina sighed heavily. "Poor Mom. She's got a half-blind, stubborn daughter who can't fight anymore and a son who's afraid to be a Jedi. Good thing Anakin came along." </i></div>
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Ugh, yeah, I still hate the idea that Jaina feels like she was just an inconvenience to her mother. Also, as we've discussed a fair amount lately, this sends a bad message about how women can't work and be there for their children. At least Mara defends Leia.</div>
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So, eventually the Vong attack them where they are on the planet and everything gets extremely chaotic. Anakin and Luke and Mara are fighting in ships, while Jaina, Jacen, Han and Leia are on the planet. This book has a lot of the family working together, and it's pretty nice to read. And it reminds you how fun that would've been to see on screen at some point. But anyway... This is just one quick little line as they are all trying to figure out how to get everyone out and Han and Leia have to split up again:</div>
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<i> "Hey, Leia. Stay right here. I just found you. I want to find you again, when I get back."</i></div>
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Doesn't this seem like the perfect moment for some sort of introspection or something else? Well, too bad, you're not getting any, because it isn't there. Again. BUT, not too soon after, they are saying goodbye to each other.</div>
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<i> Han wrapped an arm around Leia's shoulders and pulled her close, momentarily resting his chin on her white turban. "Take care of yourself, then." <br /><br /> "You, too." <br /><br /> Jacen's parents kissed each other - barely a peck at first, and then Han leaned into it. Leia went up on her tiptoes. Jacen lowered his eyes, caught Jaina's glance, and half smiled. <br /><br /> She nodded. </i></div>
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Aw, that at least is very sweet. Although to be honest I got kind of tired of how most of what we read about them is from Jacen's perspective. Still, at least they are kissing again, and the kids are happy about it. Oh, but wait! Finally, for the first time I think in this book, we get a brief moment from Han's point of view:</div>
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<i> He knew exactly what Leia wanted to do: sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong operation herself, no matter what it cost her - or him. Call him selfish, but he wanted her alive. Not a dead hero. With or without that gorgeous hair, she had the spark that lit a fire in him. </i></div>
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Yay! Of course she does! </div>
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<i> Han did the same. The Yuuzhan Vong were probably wearing battle armor anyway. One shot, and they'd hear him - and all come down on him. <br /><br /> He paused, shocked by his own thoughts. Where was the old Han Solo who would've charged right in? <br /><br /> Maybe he had died with Chewbacca. "Right," he said. "Keep me in sight, but if they get me, tell Leia ..."</i></div>
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He is talking to his pal Droma there. Luckily we all know Han makes it and can tell Leia whatever he has to tell her himself. </div>
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There is a moment where Leia is with the twins and Jaina needs some help with the Force, but Jacen still won't use it. Jaina is not happy with this. Leia had had a conversation with him earlier about his not wanting to use it, and Jacen thinks that she should understand that not everyone with that potential should need to use it, because she hasn't really done any training or anything. This sort of contradicts the last Zahn book where Leia seems quite adept with the Force, but whatever. Unfortunately as they are trying to escape, Leia gets caught by a Vong warrior and tells the twins to keep running. In Leia's conversation with the enemy, she finds out that there is a Hutt traitor from their midst who had offered the Vong Jacen. Well, as you can imagine, Leia does not like that one bit. She winds up reaching out to Luke to let him know she's in trouble, as she doesn't want to put her kids in danger. Luke finds out that Jacen and Jaina are already going back to help their mother.</div>
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<i> Jaina responded instantly, though. He even felt the assurance that Jaina was already returning to try to help her mother. Linked with her, now, circumventing the irritation Jaina usually showed toward Leia, Luke sensed her love for the woman who was so much like herself. Her first friend, her role model. </i></div>
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Leia is able to get a message to Jaina and tells her to go warn everyone that the Vong are going to attack all the Duros cities. She also tells her to get her father, and only then can she maybe come back to try and get her. Things start to get pretty bad for Leia right about now. First, she is forced to watch as the Vong start killing innocent refugees. Then she realizes that this is all a trap to lure her kids back to her, and she frantically tries to warn them all to leave, and attacks the Vong. But they take her down and then just start lacerating her legs, and her screams are even heard by Jacen. He finally makes his way back to her, sees her bleeding profusely from her legs as she tells him to go and run away. And he decides that the only way he can save her is to use the Force.</div>
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<br />Well, of course he does manage to save her, and he can even feel her presence weakening. He even uses the Force to try and slow the bleeding. Jaina finally arrives and Jacen picks up his mother and they start to take her out. They frantically make their way back to the Falcon to escape, knowing that Leia's life is very much in danger. Or, at the very least, her legs. In another missed opportunity, we are told that Han finally sees them all coming, and sees Jacen carrying Leia, and the mangled mess that her legs are. And that's it. But then the kids make it to the ship and strap Leia to the med bunk.</div>
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<i> Leia's eyes fluttered open. "Jaina," she murmured. "Heard your voice. Thanks." <br /><br /> Jaina tucked a thermal blanket around Leia's shivering shoulders, then uncoiled a fluid drip and applied it to her bared arm. "Jacen did the hard part," she said gruffly. <br /><br /> Jacen adjusted the bandage cuffs. Finely tuned microrepulsor fields were already compressing the damaged arteries, even while they enhanced peripheral circulation to his mother's lower legs. Something just as invisible as the field, but warmer, flowed between his sister and mother. A deep understanding, a living connection. <br /><br /> "No. What you did," Leia managed. "Harder. Furious with me, but ... came back." <br /><br /> Jaina made a wry face, then bent to kiss her mother's cheek. "Lie still. We'll get you out of here." <br /><br /> "But ... Duro ... Basbakhan ..." <br /><br /> "We're evacuating," Jacen said. What had happened to her other Noghri? "Basbakhan?" he asked. <br /><br /> Leia's eyelids fell shut. Jacen looked up at Jaina, worried. <br /><br /> "There's a sedative in that drip," Jaina explained. "Otherwise she'd roll down, crawl to the quad guns, and bleed to death." In her voice, Jacen heard heartfelt respect.</i></div>
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Well, at least her kids seem to know her well enough to know she would literally die trying to help out. </div>
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This is as close as we get to Han dealing with Leia's injuries:</div>
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<i>Luke's voice: "Han, is she all right?" <br /><br /> Han sounded tense. "She's hurt bad."</i></div>
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Then eventually Han tells his kids to prepare to jump because, <i>"We're taking her home."</i></div>
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And they all escape Duros, and that's the end. Oh except for a brief little thing at the end where the Vong decide what they really want is Jacen Solo. So, also bad news for him. </div>
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Ok, we did it. We got them back together. It's definitely far from the greatest resolution ever, but at least the nightmare is over. And we never again have to deal with Han and Leia being apart or being anything but warm and loving to each other. It was really disappointing to not see more from Han's point of view, or really just more on the emotional side of things in general. I did kind of like that as soon as Leia is with Han again it's like everything he does affects her, she notices everything about him that she likes. And they kissed! And the kids are happy about it, too. These are the important things. It's just too bad that at the end of the book Leia is near death, and also bald because of the decontamination thing. </div>
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One thing I did like, as I mentioned, is there is a lot with Han and Leia working with their kids. This was something I'd missed, and something that would've been really fun to see more of. The kids really do have their own personalities here. Jaina is the more feisty one, Jacen is dealing with his own moral dilemma dealing with using the Force, and at one point Mara is thinking how much Anakin is similar to Luke. </div>
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So, what do we give this one? It's hard to tell, and I will take some suggestions if anyone else thinks I'm wrong here. I mean, the last few books have been SO bad for Han and Leia. So, so bad. And, well, now they're together. And Leia is acting like Leia, and Han finally seems to be acting like Han, we're just missing more of what is going on in his head as the author almost entirely leaves that out. It seems like an awfully quick resolution. Finishing this book again made me realize just how much we really needed the ebook Recovery, to be reviewed next, to make up for what this one is lacking. Anyway, I think I'll go with 2.5 here. I wouldn't really tell a Han and Leia fan to go out of their way to read this, because I think they'd maybe be a bit disappointed. But I did like a lot of the Solo family stuff, and, as mentioned, they DO reconcile, which is the most important thing. If anyone wants to fill in any missing moments, please feel free to do so. </div>
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As one final note, I also seem to recall reading that Kathy Tyers was another author who wasn't really a big fan of Han and Leia. So of course that made me furious that someone who doesn't even like them was the one who got to write them coming back together, and perhaps that explains some of the disappointment. The good news is, we are only a few books away from when Troy Denning was brought to writing Star Wars books, and he is someone that could always be trusted to do right by Han and Leia. </div>
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Zyrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04860113813294303312noreply@blogger.com25